SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Nevada junior guard Armon Johnson is among the candidates for the 2010 Bob Cousy Award presented by The Hartford Financial Services, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts announced today.
The annual award, named for Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic Bob Cousy, recognizes college basketball's top point guard. 73 candidates have been nominated for the 2010 award. Nominations were solicited from all Division I, II and III schools across the country.
A 2009 first-team All-WAC selection, Johnson has started 73 out of 75 games at point guard for the Wolf Pack in his two-plus seasons at Nevada. He recently became just the sixth player in school history to score at least 1,000 career points and dish out at least 250 career assists. The 2008 WAC Freshman of the Year, Johnson already ranks 10th in career assists in the Nevada record book with 299 and is leading the WAC with 5.38 assists per game this season.
"The Hall of Fame is proud to once again work with Mr. Cousy and The Hartford to present one of college basketball's most coveted awards," said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Basketball Hall of Fame. "This list represents a wide range of college basketball's top players from all divisions and we look forward to honoring the legacy of Mr. Cousy with this year's award winner."
"We are proud to be a part of a growing tradition at the Basketball Hall of Fame and congratulate this year's Bob Cousy Award candidates. This award promotes the values of leadership, vision, teamwork and integrity, skills that are not only needed on the basketball court but also in life," said Mike Concannon, executive vice president of sales and distribution at The Hartford. "These values are shared by The Hartford and reflect the high standards set by Mr. Cousy to inspire people on and off the court to achieve what is ahead of them."
This original list of candidates will be narrowed down to a final 20 by Jan. 1, final 10 by Feb. 1, and final five by March 1. A Hall of Fame appointed screening committee will be narrowing down the candidates from 20 to 10 to 5 prior to the Blue Ribbon Selection Committee evaluating the final five candidates and ultimately choosing the winner. These Hall of Fame committees are made up of top college basketball personnel including media members, head coaches, Sports Information Directors and Hall of Famers.
The winner of the 2010 Bob Cousy Award presented by The Hartford will be presented at the Hall of Fame's Class Announcement on Monday April 5th in Indianapolis as part of NCAA Final Four weekend.
Previous winners of the Bob Cousy Award have included: Jameer Nelson (St. Joseph's), Raymond Felton (North Carolina), Dee Brown (Illinois), Acie Law (Texas A & M), DJ Augustin (Texas) and Ty Lawson (North Carolina). For more information on the 2010 Bob Cousy Award presented by The Hartford, log onto www.cousyaward.com.
