Murray State University Athletics
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Payne Named Finalist For Lute Olson Player Of Year
3/29/2015 2:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Olson All-America Home Page
Murray State's Cameron Payne was named to the Lute Olson All-America Team as announced by CollegeInsider.com from their home office in Boston.
The list also serves as the finalist list for the Olson Player of the Year award which is announced during Final Four weekend on April 3 in Indianapolis.
Payne, a sophomore from Memphis, was this season's Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year after being named OVC Preseason Player of the Year in October. Payne scored 20.2 points per game and is the first Racer to lead the league in scoring since Isaiah Canaan in 2012-13. Payne is the fifth MSU player to score 700 points in a single season at 707. He also made a run at the single-season assist mark of 212, as he finished with 209. Payne was 14th in the nation in scoring and 11th in assists this season.
He helped the Racers to another outstanding season that included MSU making it to the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament. Along the way, Murray State went 29-6, won their 24th OVC regular season title, set the school and league record with a 25-game winning streak and became the fifth team in 67 seasons of OVC Basketball to go undefeated in league play at 16-0.
The Lute Olson Award is presented annually to the nation's top Division I player who has played at least two seasons. Freshman are not eligible for the award, but may be named to the team
The award is named in honor of Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson, who won 780 games in 34 seasons, 24 of which were spent at the University of Arizona. During that stretch he led the Wildcats to 11 Pac-10 Conference titles, 23 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, four Final Four appearances and a National Championship in 1997.
Lute Olson All-America Team
Justin Anderson, Jr., Virginia
*Karl-Anthony Towns, Fr., Kentucky
Ron Baker, Jr., Wichita State
Willie Cauley-Stein, Jr., Kentucky
Rakeem Christmas, Sr., Syracuse
Kyle Collinsworth, Jr., BYU
Kris Dunn, So., Providence
Perry Ellis, Jr., Kansas
Jerian Grant, Sr., Notre Dame
Buddy Hield, Jr., Oklahoma
Darrun Hilliard II, Sr., Villanova
*Stanley Johnson, Fr., Arizona
Frank Kaminsky, Sr., Wisconsin
T.J. McConnell, Sr., Arizona
*Jahlil Okafor, Fr., Duke
Kevin Pangos, Sr., Gonzaga
Cameron Payne, So., Murray State
Bobby Portis, So., Arkansas
*D'Angelo Russell, Fr., Ohio State
Juwan Staten, Sr., West Virginia
Seth Tuttle, Sr., Northern Iowa
Fred VanVleet, Jr., Wichita State
Kyle Wiltjer, Jr., Gonzaga
Delon Wright, Sr., Utah
Joseph Young, Sr., Oregon
*Freshman
Murray State's Cameron Payne was named to the Lute Olson All-America Team as announced by CollegeInsider.com from their home office in Boston.
The list also serves as the finalist list for the Olson Player of the Year award which is announced during Final Four weekend on April 3 in Indianapolis.
Payne, a sophomore from Memphis, was this season's Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year after being named OVC Preseason Player of the Year in October. Payne scored 20.2 points per game and is the first Racer to lead the league in scoring since Isaiah Canaan in 2012-13. Payne is the fifth MSU player to score 700 points in a single season at 707. He also made a run at the single-season assist mark of 212, as he finished with 209. Payne was 14th in the nation in scoring and 11th in assists this season.
He helped the Racers to another outstanding season that included MSU making it to the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament. Along the way, Murray State went 29-6, won their 24th OVC regular season title, set the school and league record with a 25-game winning streak and became the fifth team in 67 seasons of OVC Basketball to go undefeated in league play at 16-0.
The Lute Olson Award is presented annually to the nation's top Division I player who has played at least two seasons. Freshman are not eligible for the award, but may be named to the team
The award is named in honor of Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson, who won 780 games in 34 seasons, 24 of which were spent at the University of Arizona. During that stretch he led the Wildcats to 11 Pac-10 Conference titles, 23 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, four Final Four appearances and a National Championship in 1997.
Lute Olson All-America Team
Justin Anderson, Jr., Virginia
*Karl-Anthony Towns, Fr., Kentucky
Ron Baker, Jr., Wichita State
Willie Cauley-Stein, Jr., Kentucky
Rakeem Christmas, Sr., Syracuse
Kyle Collinsworth, Jr., BYU
Kris Dunn, So., Providence
Perry Ellis, Jr., Kansas
Jerian Grant, Sr., Notre Dame
Buddy Hield, Jr., Oklahoma
Darrun Hilliard II, Sr., Villanova
*Stanley Johnson, Fr., Arizona
Frank Kaminsky, Sr., Wisconsin
T.J. McConnell, Sr., Arizona
*Jahlil Okafor, Fr., Duke
Kevin Pangos, Sr., Gonzaga
Cameron Payne, So., Murray State
Bobby Portis, So., Arkansas
*D'Angelo Russell, Fr., Ohio State
Juwan Staten, Sr., West Virginia
Seth Tuttle, Sr., Northern Iowa
Fred VanVleet, Jr., Wichita State
Kyle Wiltjer, Jr., Gonzaga
Delon Wright, Sr., Utah
Joseph Young, Sr., Oregon
*Freshman
Players Mentioned
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