Photo by: Eddie Perlas / ESPN Images
Ja Morant Named 2019 Bob Cousy Award Winner
4/12/2019 8:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Murray State sophomore guard Ja Morant was named the winner of the 2019 Bob Cousy Award by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. This honor recognizes the top point guard in men's college basketball.
The award was presented on Friday night at the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show in Los Angeles. Morant topped four other finalists in the voting including Marquette's Markus Howard, Gonzaga's Josh Perkins, LSU's Tremont Waters and Michigan State's Cassius Winston.
The Bob Cousy Award is given in honor of the great player who revolutionized the point guard position when he played in the NBA from 1950-63 for the Boston Celtics. Nicknamed the "Houdini of the Hardwood" by sports writers, Cousy is considered by many as the best playmaker ever. He was named to the NBA's 25th and 35th and 50th Anniversary All-Time teams in 1970, 1980 and 1996. Cousy led Holy Cross to three NCAA tournaments and the 1947 title.
Morant earned first-team consensus All-American honors from the NCAA for being selected by the AP, NABC, Sporting News and USBWA. Overall Morant is the third OVC student-athlete to earn first-team consensus All-American honors joining Western Kentucky's Clem Haskins (1967) and Jim McDaniels (1971).
He earned 13 total All-American honors this season, including first-team honors from the Associated Press, Basketball Times, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, Lut Olson, NABC, Sports Illustrated, USBWA and the Wooden Award and second-team honors from NBC Sports, Sporting News, Stadium and USA TODAY Sports.
Morant earned the Lute Olson National Player of the Year Award from CollegeInsider.com and was a finalist for the Oscar Robertson, Naismith and Wooden National Player of the Year honors.
Morant, the OVC Player of the Year, led Murray State to a 28-5 overall and 16-2 OVC record, a share of the OVC regular season championship and the program's second-straight and record 17th OVC Tournament Championship. He guided the Racers to an 83-64 win over No. 5 seed Marquette in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament; that marked the second-biggest win for a No. 12 seed over a No. 5 seed in tournament history.
Morant finished the season with 331 assists, the sixth-most in NCAA single-season history. He averaged 24.5 points and 10.0 assists/game making him the first player to average 20/10 in a season since the NCAA began to officially recognize assists in 1983-84.
Morant's 10.0 assists/game were 2.3 assists/game more than second place. He also ranked eighth nationally in scoring (24.5 points/game), ninth in double-doubles (20) and 83rd in steals (1.76/game). He recorded three triple-doubles (including only the ninth in NCAA Tournament history), which led the country (he was one of only two people with multiple triple-doubles in 2018-19).
Morant had 15 games this year with 20-plus points and 10-plus assists; no other player nationally has three such games.
His 18 assists in a game against UT Martin are the most by a Division I player this year and the second-most in OVC single-game history. His 20 double-doubles were just four off the nation's lead and he is the only player in the top 30 nationally in double-doubles under 6'6" tall.
In January Morant became the first Division I player in 20 years to record 40 points, 11 assists and five steals in a regulation game (doing so vs. SIUE). In that contest he hit 21-of-21 free throws, establishing a new OVC single-game record (just three off the NCAA mark); he was the first Division I player with 21 or more made free throws in a game without a miss in the past 20 years.
He was named MVP of the OVC Tournament after averaging 32.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists/game while hitting 55.4 percent from the field and 79.2 percent from the free throw line. He had 29 points, eight assists and six rebounds in a semifinal win over Jacksonville State, including converting a traditional three-point play in the final 10 seconds to give him team the win. He followed that with 36 pointss, seven rebounds and three assists in a title game win over Belmont. Those two wins helped MSU avenge its only two OVC losses of the season.
Morant had 17 points, 16 assists and 11 assists in the First Round NCAA Tournament win over Marquette, marked just the ninth triple-double in NCAA Tournament history (since assists became an official stat in 1983-84). The 16 assists tied a first round NCAA record and were the second-most ever in a NCAA Tournament game.
All-Time Bob Cousy Award Winners
2019 - Ja Morant, Murray State University
2018 - Jalen Brunson, Villanova University
2017 - Frank Mason III, University of Kansas
2016 - Tyler Ulis, University of Kentucky
2015 - Delon Wright, University of Utah
2014 - Shabazz Napier, University of Connecticut
2013 - Trey Burke, University of Michigan
2012 - Kendall Marshall, University of North Carolina
2011 - Kemba Walker, University of Connecticut
2010 - Greivis Vasquez, University of Maryland
2009 - Ty Lawson, University of North Carolina
2008 - DJ Augustin, University of Texas
2007 - Acie Law IV, Texas A&M University
2006 - Dee Brown, University of Illinois
2005 - Raymond Felton, University of North Carolina
2004 - Jameer Nelson, St. Joseph's University
The award was presented on Friday night at the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show in Los Angeles. Morant topped four other finalists in the voting including Marquette's Markus Howard, Gonzaga's Josh Perkins, LSU's Tremont Waters and Michigan State's Cassius Winston.
The Bob Cousy Award is given in honor of the great player who revolutionized the point guard position when he played in the NBA from 1950-63 for the Boston Celtics. Nicknamed the "Houdini of the Hardwood" by sports writers, Cousy is considered by many as the best playmaker ever. He was named to the NBA's 25th and 35th and 50th Anniversary All-Time teams in 1970, 1980 and 1996. Cousy led Holy Cross to three NCAA tournaments and the 1947 title.
Morant earned first-team consensus All-American honors from the NCAA for being selected by the AP, NABC, Sporting News and USBWA. Overall Morant is the third OVC student-athlete to earn first-team consensus All-American honors joining Western Kentucky's Clem Haskins (1967) and Jim McDaniels (1971).
He earned 13 total All-American honors this season, including first-team honors from the Associated Press, Basketball Times, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, Lut Olson, NABC, Sports Illustrated, USBWA and the Wooden Award and second-team honors from NBC Sports, Sporting News, Stadium and USA TODAY Sports.
Morant earned the Lute Olson National Player of the Year Award from CollegeInsider.com and was a finalist for the Oscar Robertson, Naismith and Wooden National Player of the Year honors.
Morant, the OVC Player of the Year, led Murray State to a 28-5 overall and 16-2 OVC record, a share of the OVC regular season championship and the program's second-straight and record 17th OVC Tournament Championship. He guided the Racers to an 83-64 win over No. 5 seed Marquette in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament; that marked the second-biggest win for a No. 12 seed over a No. 5 seed in tournament history.
Morant finished the season with 331 assists, the sixth-most in NCAA single-season history. He averaged 24.5 points and 10.0 assists/game making him the first player to average 20/10 in a season since the NCAA began to officially recognize assists in 1983-84.
Morant's 10.0 assists/game were 2.3 assists/game more than second place. He also ranked eighth nationally in scoring (24.5 points/game), ninth in double-doubles (20) and 83rd in steals (1.76/game). He recorded three triple-doubles (including only the ninth in NCAA Tournament history), which led the country (he was one of only two people with multiple triple-doubles in 2018-19).
Morant had 15 games this year with 20-plus points and 10-plus assists; no other player nationally has three such games.
His 18 assists in a game against UT Martin are the most by a Division I player this year and the second-most in OVC single-game history. His 20 double-doubles were just four off the nation's lead and he is the only player in the top 30 nationally in double-doubles under 6'6" tall.
In January Morant became the first Division I player in 20 years to record 40 points, 11 assists and five steals in a regulation game (doing so vs. SIUE). In that contest he hit 21-of-21 free throws, establishing a new OVC single-game record (just three off the NCAA mark); he was the first Division I player with 21 or more made free throws in a game without a miss in the past 20 years.
He was named MVP of the OVC Tournament after averaging 32.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists/game while hitting 55.4 percent from the field and 79.2 percent from the free throw line. He had 29 points, eight assists and six rebounds in a semifinal win over Jacksonville State, including converting a traditional three-point play in the final 10 seconds to give him team the win. He followed that with 36 pointss, seven rebounds and three assists in a title game win over Belmont. Those two wins helped MSU avenge its only two OVC losses of the season.
Morant had 17 points, 16 assists and 11 assists in the First Round NCAA Tournament win over Marquette, marked just the ninth triple-double in NCAA Tournament history (since assists became an official stat in 1983-84). The 16 assists tied a first round NCAA record and were the second-most ever in a NCAA Tournament game.
All-Time Bob Cousy Award Winners
2019 - Ja Morant, Murray State University
2018 - Jalen Brunson, Villanova University
2017 - Frank Mason III, University of Kansas
2016 - Tyler Ulis, University of Kentucky
2015 - Delon Wright, University of Utah
2014 - Shabazz Napier, University of Connecticut
2013 - Trey Burke, University of Michigan
2012 - Kendall Marshall, University of North Carolina
2011 - Kemba Walker, University of Connecticut
2010 - Greivis Vasquez, University of Maryland
2009 - Ty Lawson, University of North Carolina
2008 - DJ Augustin, University of Texas
2007 - Acie Law IV, Texas A&M University
2006 - Dee Brown, University of Illinois
2005 - Raymond Felton, University of North Carolina
2004 - Jameer Nelson, St. Joseph's University
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