Peter Jok on watch list for national award

Iowa senior Peter Jok was one of 20 basketball players named Tuesday to the "watch list" for the 2017 Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award.

Named after the Hall of Famer and 1959 NCAA Final Four Most Valuable Player, the annual honor in its third year recognizes the top shooting guards in Division I.

Last week, Jok was recognized on the 10-member all-Big Ten Conference preseason team. Jok (6-foot-6, 205 pounds) was a second-team all-conference honoree a year ago as a junior, helping the Hawkeyes to a third-place Big Ten finish and to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Jok ranked second on the team in scoring (16.1 ppg) and steals (40), and first in 3-pointers made (80) and free throw accuracy (85.2 percent, 92-of-108). Jok became the first Hawkeye non-senior to average 16 or more points since Chris Kingsbury averaged 16.8 as a sophomore in 1995.

By mid-February, the watch list will be narrowed to 10. In March, five finalists will be presented to West and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee. The winner will be presented at the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show in Los Angeles on April 7.

Previous winners of the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award are Buddy Hield of Oklahoma (2016) and D’Angelo Russell of Ohio State (2015).

2017 Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award Candidates 

Allonzo Trier, Arizona

Dusty Hannahs, Arkansas

Nick Emery, Brigham Young University

Jacob Evans, Cincinnati

Charles Cook, Dayton

Grayson Allen, Duke

Jordan Matthews, Gonzaga

Malcolm Hill, Illinois

James Blackmon Jr., Indiana

Peter Jok, Iowa

Devonte' Graham, Kansas

Malik Monk, Kentucky

Antonio Blakeney, Louisiana State University

Donovan Mitchell, Louisville

Eron Harris, Michigan St.

Elijah Brown, New Mexico

Tyler Dorsey, Oregon

E.C. Matthews, Rhode Island

Shake Milton, Southern Methodist University

Isaac Hamilton, University of California, Los Angeles