Hutchison in Line For Naismith Outstanding Player Award
Chandler Hutchison of Boise State has been named to the team of 30 men’s basketball players competing to receive the 50th Citizen Naismith Trophy.
The Naismith Trophy is presented annually to college basketball's most outstanding player.
Hutchison (20.3 points, 7.6 rebounds. 3.4 assists and 1.3 steals) is one of eight players in NCAA Division I who is currently leading a team in points, rebounds, assists and steals. He is the only player on the late season Citizen Naismith Trophy List who leads a team in all four categories.
Hutchison and Nevada’s Caleb Martin are the two Mountain West representatives on the list. The Mission Viejo, Calif., native was also recently named one of the final 10 candidates for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award.
He leads the conference in points and is sixth in rebounds, assists and steals. His nine double-doubles this season puts him a tie for third in the league, as well as being tied for fifth most in Boise State single-season history.
His 13 career 20-point, 10-rebound games leads the school record book while his seven 20/10 games this season is second in Bronco single-season history.
Hutchison recorded the first known triple-double in program history in going for 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a home game against Portland (Dec. 3). The triple-double was just the fifth in Mountain West history and is one of 21 in NCAA Division I this season.
A little over a month later against San Diego State (Jan. 13) Hutchison earned the single-game scoring record with 44 points on an incredible 15-of-21 performance from the field, including going 7-of-10 from behind the arc. The 44-point performance is tied for the seventh-highest single-game output in NCAA Division I this season.
He has scored 20 or more points in 14 games this season, including six games scoring 25 or more.
In addition, Hutchison became just the 11th player in Boise State history to win a conference road game at every league venue in his career with a win at Fresno State (Jan. 10, 2018). John Coker (1992-95) was the last to accomplish the feat, which had not been done since Boise State was in the Big Sky. Hutchison is the sixth four-year Bronco to accomplish the feat.
From this list, 10 semifinalists will be revealed on Feb. 28, and only those 10 players are eligible for the group of four finalists, which will be released in mid-March. Fans, once again, will be able to vote for their favorite player by visiting naismithtrophy.com/vote between March 19-30 to cast their ballot, and the fan component counts for five percent of the overall final vote. The 50th Citizen Naismith Trophy will be awarded on April 1 in San Antonio, during the NCAA Men’s Final Four.