Another National Player of the Year watch list has been released and, not surprisingly, Kris Dunn’s name is among the list of 33 players being considered for the award. The Oscar Robertson Trophy is given out by the USBWA annually to the National Player of the Year. The USBWA is made up of nearly 1,000 sports journalists and each member is eligible to vote for this and other USBWA awards. For the purpose of full disclosure, I am a USBWA member and a voter for this award. Dunn was also named to the Wooden Award watch list that was released on November 17th.
The Big East had a very successful week as a league during “Feast Week”. There were 4 Big East teams that won their respective holiday tournaments (Creighton, Marquette, Villanova and Xavier) and Providence finished 2nd in the Wooden Legacy Tournament. Through the first few weeks of the season the Big East is 45-14 (.763) against non-league opponents. On Monday, the Big East released their weekly awards and for the second time in three weeks the Big East Player of the Week is Kris Dunn.
Marc Stein of ESPN reported on Twitter Wednesday afternoon that the Phoenix Suns were calling former Friar Bryce Cotton up from the NBA D-League. The Tucson, AZ native will have some extra things to be thankful for this year on Thanksgiving. Cotton went undrafted after a very productive career at Providence. He was signed to a partially guaranteed contract by the San Antonio Spurs and ultimately ended up with the Spurs’ D-League affiliate in Austin, TX. Cotton’s wife just moved from Rhode Island to Austin for an internship while she pursues her law degree.
Week 2 of the Big East Weekly Awards were released on November 23rd and Providence was represented again. A week after Kris Dunn was named the Big East Player of the Week it was Rodney Bullock that received accolades from the league. Bullock joined Roosevelt Jones (Butler), Isaac Copeland (Georgetown), Desi Rodriguez (Seton Hall) and Trevon Bluiett (Xavier) on the week 2 Honor Roll. Josh Hart (Villanova) was named Player of the Week and Yankuba Sima (St. John’s) was named Freshman of the Week.
The national attention continues for Kris Dunn. Dunn, who scored a career high 32 points while grabbing a career high 8 steals in Providence’s season opening win against Harvard, has been named to the 50 player first release of the Wooden Award watch list. The Wooden Award — named after legendary UCLA coach John Wooden — is given annually to the nation’s top player and this is the first release of the watch list of players that are considered potential winners. Dunn is joined on the list by fellow Big East brethren Jalen Brunson (Villanova), Kellen Dunham (Butler) and D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera (Georgetown).
Now that actual games have gotten underway the accolades coming Kris Dunn’s way are ones he will earn on the court during this season instead of the ones labeled “preseason”. The first such
“in-season” accolade came on Monday when the Big East announced their weekly award winners. Dunn was named the season’s first Big East Player of the Week for his career-high 32 point performance in Providence’s win over Harvard on Saturday.
Getting love from CBS Sports and NBC Sports and even Blue Ribbon College Yearbook is really nice for Kris Dunn. It gives Dunn and Providence time in the national spotlight and gets people all across the basketball world talking about Dunn and the Friars. The Associated Press All-American Team is a different ballgame.
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