Texas Tech sophomore Jarrett Culver has been named one of 20 players selected to the 2018-19 Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. Members of the association’s board of directors chose the players to be included on the list as contenders for the National Player of the Year.

The award is to be presented by its namesake at the NCAA Final Four in Minneapolis in April.

A Lubbock native, Culver is currently averaging 19.6 points, 4.5 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game for the Red Raiders. He’s scored in double-figures in all 11 games, including going for 25 points against No. 2 Duke on Thursday with a season-high four 3-pointers. Culver scored a career-high 30 points last Saturday in a win over Abilene Christian where he shot 12-for-13 and was named the Big 12 Player of the Week for the first time in his career after the performance.

Along with the Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List, Culver is also on the Jerry West Award Watch List that was announced prior to the season and was a Big 12 Preseason Honorable Mention selection. Through 48 games in his career, Culver has already scored 631 points, secured 240 rebounds and has 116 assists.

Dedric Lawson of Kansas, the preseason Newcomer of the Year in the Big 12, along with Culver represent the Big 12 on the watch list.

Three pairs of teammates at Duke, Gonzaga and Nevada highlight the list, with the Atlantic Coast Conference leading all conferences with five selections, including preseason ACC Player of the Year Luke Maye of North Carolina and preseason ACC Rookie of the Year RJ Barrett of Duke, one of four freshmen on the team. Duke’s other standout freshman forward, Zion Williamson, is also on the watch list.

Gonzaga juniors Rui Hachimura and Brandon Clarke, a transfer from San Jose State who sat out the 2017-18 season, are the other pair of teammates along with Nevada’s Jordan Caroline and Caleb Martin, the preseason Mountain West Player of the Year and Nevada’s first preseason All-American in school history.

The Watch List is packed with the finest players in the nation. Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ, who currently leads the nation in double-doubles with nine, is one of three Big Ten players on the list along with preseason All-American Carsen Edwards of Purdue and standout freshman Ignas Brazdeikis of Michigan. The ACC’s other representatives are Nickeil Alexander-Walker of Virginia Tech and sophomore guard De’Andre Hunter of Virginia.

Two-time Summit League Player of the Year Mike Daum of South Dakota State returns to the Watch List for a second consecutive year with his current double-double averages of 24.7 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. He is one of six seniors tabbed by the USBWA as a national player of the year candidate. Bol Bol is the Pac-12’s lone watch list member and is also the only true center on the 20-man list.

The Big East tied the Big 12 for the third-most members with two, including its preseason Player of the Year, junior guard Shamorie Ponds of St. John’s. Marquette’s Markus Howard also made the list. The preseason SEC Player of the Year, junior forward Grant Williams of Tennessee, is on the list along with senior guard CJ Massinburg of upstart Buffalo, which won a program-record 27 games a year ago.

The composition of the team has six seniors, seven juniors, three sophomores and four freshmen.
 
Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch
Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Virginia Tech
R.J. Barrett, Duke
Bol Bol, Oregon
Ignas Brazdeikis, Michigan
Jordan Caroline, Nevada
Brandon Clarke, Gonzaga
Jarrett Culver, Texas Tech
Mike Daum, South Dakota State
Carson Edwards, Purdue
Rui Hachimura, Gonzaga
Ethan Happ, Wisconsin
Markus Howard, Marquette
De’Andre Hunter, Virginia
Dedric Lawson, Kansas
Caleb Martin, Nevada
C.J. Massinburg, Buffalo
Luke Maye, North Carolina
Shamorie Ponds, St. John’s
Grant Williams, Tennessee
Zion Williamson, Duke

COURTESY OF TEXAS ATHLETICS