The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame released its watch list for the 2015 Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award on Tuesday, tabbing 36 players including junior Yogi Ferrell of Indiana, sophomore Derrick Walton Jr. of Michigan and freshman Melo Trimble of Maryland.  Michigan’s Trey Burke was the last Big Ten player to win the award, doing so after leading the Wolverines to a runner-up finish in the 2012-13 season. Prior to Burke, Illinois’ Dee Brown last nabbed the honor In the 2005-06 campaign. A list of 20 Cousy Award finalists will be released in early February, and that will be trimmed down to five lucky players in early March. The 2015 winner will be announced during Final Four week.

Derrick Walton will see an increased role in Michigan’s offense in 2014-15.

As a sophomore, Ferrell led the Big Ten in three-pointers made per game (2.8) and was sixth in the Big Ten in assists per contest (3.9). On a roster that features no seniors, Ferrell’s effectiveness as a leader will be tested early and often, especially after the Hoosiers’ horrific offseason. Sophomore Devin Davis remains in the hospital after getting hit by a vehicle driven by freshman Emmit Holt, and sophomores Troy Williams and Stanford Robinson were suspended for failing drug tests. If Ferrell can handle the pressure and successfully guide Indiana through a tough non-conference slate that includes SMU, Pitt, Louisville, Butler and Georgetown, he can showcase himself as an early favorite to be named as a Cousy finalist in February.

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The Bob Cousy Award list was whittled down from its original 60+ names in the preseason to a more manageable 20 on Wednesday afternoon. In case you’ve lost track of what the Cousy is specifically for, it is the award given to the nation’s top point guard/floor general in college basketball. Often that player will also be in the running for National Player of the Year honors, as in the recent cases of Jameer Nelson (2004), Ty Lawson (2009), and Kemba Walker (2011). Last year, you might recall that Wisconsin’s Jordan Taylor was somewhat infamously left off the February list of 10 finalists, causing the Naismith Hall of Fame brass to reconsider and eventually reinstating the All-America Badger onto the list where he advanced to become one of the five finalists before Walker was selected for the award. To be clear, this version represents the preliminary finalists before the super-finalists before the super-duper-finalists list. The committee will make two more cuts over the next eight weeks before awarding the prize to the winner during Final Four weekend in New Orleans.

The Cousy Award Is Prestigious Because It Is Given By the Naismith HOF

Let’s take a look at the current list, and signify using (10) or (5) the players who we expect to advance further. A few notes follow after the jump:

• Pierre Jackson, Baylor
• Shabazz Napier, UConn (10)
• Ray McCallum, Detroit
• Seth Curry, Duke (10)
• Erving Walker, Florida (10)
• Scott Machado, Iona (5)
• Casper Ware, Long Beach State
• Peyton Siva, Louisville
• Trey Burke, Michigan (10)
• Dee Bost, Mississippi State (10)
• Phil Pressey, Missouri
• Kendall Marshall, North Carolina (5)
• Aaron Craft, Ohio State
• D.J. Cooper, Ohio
• Zack Rosen, Pennsylvania 
• Ashton Gibbs, Pittsburgh
• Scoop Jardine, Syracuse
• Damian Lillard, Weber State (5)
• Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin (5)
• Tu Holloway, Xavier (5)

A few notes:

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Some Quick Notes.

• Clark Kellogg says that UConn, Louisville, Pittsburgh, UNC, Wake Forest and Oklahoma are his top tier of F4 contenders.
• Here are your Cousy Award nominees (the nation’s best PG).

The Battle to Finish Second Behind UCLA.

• California 86, Washington 71.  Saw most of this game – great win for the Bears to keep a recently-wobbly shop afloat.  What struck us was how terrible UW’s defense was in this game – Cal nailed open shot after open shot in the second half and hit 52% for the game – we counted at least twelve possessions in a row where the Bears scored on their second-half run to put the game away.  Washington has a nice collection of talent, but Jon Brockman (4/15) didn’t show up on the offensive end tonight, and they really need him to be productive to become a good team.
• Arizona St. 66, Oregon 57. It would be difficult for us to fathom, but could Oregon be this year’s Oregon St. and go 0-18 in the Pac-10?  The Ducks sit at 0-10 after tonight, and unless they can nip Arizona, Stanford, Cal or OSU at home, they might just join their state rival in ignominy.  James Harden came back from a 15-pt game last outing with a 36-pt explosion.  ASU, for the fifth time in conference play this season, had only two players in double figures.  This will be a serious problem for the Sun Devils in March.

Some Other Games on Your Thursday Night.

• Gonzaga 93, Portland 78. With this road win, the Zags are well on their way to another conference regular season title.  Gonzaga now owns a two game lead over Portland and St. Mary’s, with tiebreakers over both.  All five starters hit double figures tonight.
• Michigan 71, Penn St. 51. Michigan got a much-needed win over the suddenly-dangerous Nittany Lions tonight, behind 28/6/7 assts from Manny Harris.
• Davidson 75, UNC-Greensboro 54. Steph Curry Watch – 28/8 tonight in Davidson’s 43d conference win in a row.
• Xavier 83, Temple 74. XU keeps rolling in the A10, now 8-0 after BJ Raymond had his fourth straight 20+ pt outing (24 pts).
• Butler 66, Detroit 61. Butler withstood a late Detroit rally behind Gordon Hayward’s 22 pts, including a late three (4-4 on the night) that gave the Bulldogs just enough breathing room to hang on.
• Arizona 56, Oregon St. 53. OSU nearly got itself another win tonight, but Roeland Shaftenaar’s three to tie it at the buzzer rolled around the rim and came out.  Still, it’s safe to say that this Craig Robinson guy can coach a little, eh?
• Wisconsin 63, Illinois 50. UW broke its six-game losing streak against an Illini team that shot only 33% from the field tonight.  The Badgers’ Jason Bohannon had 20/6 on 6-7 from three.
• Utah St. 78, New Mexico St. 59. USU moved to 10-0 in the WAC with another easy win behing Gary Wilkinson’s 18/11.  NMSU’s Terrance Joyner did not play due to his arrest for carrying joints in his luggage at the airport.  Brilliant.