WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue junior guard Carsen Edwards has been named one of 10 semifinalists for the 2019 Citizen Naismith Trophy given annually to the nation’s top collegiate basketball player, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced today.
Edwards was joined on the list by Duke’s R.J. Barrett, Gonzaga’s Rui Hachimura, Marquette’s Markus Howard, Kansas’ Dedric Lawson, Murray State’s Ja Morant, Kentucky’s P.J. Washington, Tennessee’s Grant Williams, Duke’s Zion Williamson and Michigan State’s Cassius Winston.
Earlier this week, Edwards was named one of five finalists for the Jerry West Award which honors the nation’s top shooting guard. He was previously named on recent lists for the Wooden Award and the Oscar Robertson Trophy, also awarded to the top collegiate player.
It marks the third straight year that a Purdue player has been in the running for elite national awards. Caleb Swanigan was a finalist for all the major awards in 2017, while Edwards was tabbed in 2018.
One of America’s most-explosive players, Edwards ranks 11th in the country in scoring (23.4 PPG), but is second among high-major players behind Marquette’s Markus Howard. The junior from Atascocita, Texas, is on pace to become just the fourth player since 1992-93 to score 800 points, make 125 3-pointers, dish out 100 assists and grab 50 steals, joining Davidson’s Stephen Curry (twice), Duke’s Jay Williams and Chicago State’s David Holston.
He is on pace to become just the second Big Ten player since 1992-92 to average 23.0 points and 3.0 assists in a season (Michigan State’s Shawn Respert in 1995).
Edwards recently moved into 10th place on the Purdue career scoring list (1,749) and his 1,749 points are the most for a Purdue player in school history through his junior season.
In the win over Ohio State, Edwards tied a single-season school record with his 100th 3-pointer of the season and now needs just one triple to Dakota Mathias’ career mark of 250.
In just 30 games this year, Edwards has scored 703 points, already making him one of five players in school history with multiple 650-point seasons. His 703 points rank ninth on the single-season list, and his total is the most for a Boilermaker player since Glenn Robinson scored a school-record 1,030 points in 1994.
Edwards is a three-time Big Ten Player of the Week this season and was the Blue Ribbon Yearbook pre-season National Player of the Year. He entered the year as one of just three returning All-Americans in college basketball (North Carolina’s Luke Maye and Guy).
Edwards and the Boilermakers enter Saturday’s contest at Northwestern in a first-place tie in the Big Ten standings with a 15-4 league mark and a 22-8 overall record. Tipoff is slated for 2:30 p.m. ET, on the Big Ten Network.
