Utah State G Sam Merrill Named To Naismith Trophy Watch List
Nov 4, 2019, 12:17 PM | Updated: 3:02 pm
(Rick Parker, USU Athletics)
LOGAN, Utah – Utah State senior guard Sam Merrill has been named to the watch of the 2020 Citizen Naismith Trophy Men’s Player of the Year.
He is one of 50 players in the nation on the list that will be trimmed to 30 in February and then reduced to 10 national semifinalist on March 5 and to four finalists on March 17.
The 2020 Citizen Naismith Trophy will be awarded during the Final Four in Atlanta, Georgia.
Congrats to @smerrill05 on being named to the @NaismithTrophy Watch List.
➡️ https://t.co/KzlVc82jiU#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/lzxGOo1cOL
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) November 4, 2019
Merrill is the reigning Mountain West Conference Player of the Year and conference tournament MVP, leading the Aggies to both regular season and conference tournament championships. Last season, he averaged 20.9 points per game, scoring 731 points, which was the fifth most in a single season in school history.
The Bountiful, Utah native was also named third-team All-American by Stadium, AP honorable mention All-American, first-team all-Mountain West, first-team all-District 17 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and all-District VIII by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
Utah State will open their 2019-20 season on Tuesday when they host Montana State at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The game will tip-off at 8 p.m. and will be broadcast on AT&T SportsNet.