In the first of what could be numerous All-American honors for Kris Dunn, USA Today is the first to plant the redshirt junior on an All-American team. Dunn is on the Third Team with fellow Big East player Trevon Bluiett (Xavier), Georges Niang (Iowa State), Ben Simmons (LSU) and Jarrod Uthoff (Iowa). Dunn, who was named one of 15 finalists for the John R. Wooden Award on Saturday, figures to make more appearances on All-American teams despite a downturn in production for a stretch of the Big East season.
The Big East announced more postseason awards and honors on Monday and Ben Bentil and Kris Dunn received more recognition a day after being unanimous selections to the Big East First Team on Sunday. Bentil was named the league’s Most Improved Player after leading the Big East in scoring at 21.2 points/game. Dunn repeats as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year after sharing the award with St. John’s Sir’Dominic Pointer last season.
The Big East has announced their postseason teams and two Providence players were unanimously selected for the First Team. Kris Dunn was expected to be on the First Team after being named the league’s preseason Player of the Year, but Bentil surprised this season and earned his unanimous selection by leading the Big East in scoring. Bentil was also named the Big East’s Player of the Week for the final week of the regular season. Dunn was named to the Weekly Honor Roll, along with Myles Davis, Roosevelt Jones, Kris Jenkins and Isaiah Whitehead. Henry Ellenson was named Big East Freshman of the Week.
The Atlanta Tipoff Club released the names on Wednesday of their semifinalists for the 2016 Naismith Trophy, an award given to the College Player of the Year in Men’s Basketball. The semifinalist list is made up of 10 players. The previous release was a midseason list of 35 players released on February 11th, which was a cut from the 50 names on the early season watch listthat was released on December 2nd. Dunn was joined by teammate Ben Bentil and fellow Big East compatriots Trevon Bluiett (Xavier) and Josh Hart (Villanova) on the 35-player midseason list.
The next release from the Atlanta Tipoff Club will be 4 finalists on March 20th. The winner will be announced on April 3rd.
Kris Dunn hasn’t been himself of late, but the national admiration continues to come his way. The U.S. Basketball Writers Association announced the finalists for the Oscar Robertson Trophy given annually to the men’s national player of the year, as voted on by members of the USBWA. (Full disclosure: I am a voter for this award) Dunn joins 10 other finalists for this award, which will be presented on April 11th at the College Basketball Awards gala and dinner in Oklahoma City.
The Atlanta Tipoff Club released their midseason watch list for the 2016 Naismith Trophy, an award given to the College Player of the Year in Men’s Basketball. The midseason list is a pared down listing of the 50 player list released on December 2nd. Kris Dunn was one of the 50 names on the early season watch list and he remains among the 35 players on this midseason release. A new addition to the list if Dunn’s running mate, Ben Bentil. Other Big East players that made the cut are also new additions: Trevon Bluiett (Xavier) and Josh Hart (Villanova)
The Wooden Award chopped their list of players in consideration from 25 to 20 on Wednesday. There were a couple names added that weren’t on the list of 25 players, but Kris Dunn continues to be cited as a candidate for this prestigious award. The John R. Wooden Award — named after the legendary UCLA coach — is given annually to the nation’s top player. Dunn is the only Big East player among the latest release of 20 players. The list will be trimmed down to 15 before 10 players are selected as Wooden All-Americans during the Elite Eight and the winner of the award will be named on April 8th. There is a fan-voting can component to this award that can be found here.
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