Tyler Haws dribbles the ball in BYU's win over Long Beach State on Nov. 14. (Bryan Pearson). Haws is one of the top scorers in the nation this season.
BYU's senior guard Tyler Haws has been named as a finalist for the John R. Wooden award, which is given annually to the nation's most outstanding basketball player. Haws is averaging 22.3 ppg game so far this season and ranks in the top three for scoring this year. Haws' scoring average has helped BYU to rank No. 1 in scoring this season, putting them ahead of Central Michigan, Incarnate Word and Iona.
'Tyler Haws is a smooth and versatile scorer for the BYU Cougars,' ESPN news reporter Eamonn Brennan said in an ESPN.com article. Brennan believes Haws to be a strong contender for the award.
All players nominated for the Wooden award have been carefully chosen by a board of college basketball experts representing all 50 states. Each candidate has to meet specific criteria, including maintaining at least a cumulative 2.00 grade point average and exhibiting strength of character on and off the court. Nominees also are expected to be teamwork based, skilled on both offense and defense and show consistency throughout the season.
As this year's returning team captain, Haws has continued to awe by tying Jimmer Fredette for third place on BYU's career 20-point game list while becoming the fifth player in BYU history to have 800-plus made field goals in a career.
The 2014 recipient of the Wooden award was Doug McDermott, who averaged 26.7 points per game. Haws has shown promise in comparison to the Creighton star.
'It is amazing to watch Ty,' coach Dave Rose said. 'That is one thing that I make sure I remind our coaches of every day, that we have a pretty good one here, and we only have a handful of games left, so we have to enjoy him while he is here.'
Coach Rose isn't the only one who has those views.
'You'd be well advised to catch a glimpse of Haws while you can,' ESPN Insider John Gasaway reported in his review of the 2015 Wooden award candidates.
A tradition that began in 1975, Coach John Wooden voiced the idea of a 'total basketball player.' Every year following Wooden's ideas of an ideal basketball player, a men's and women's college basketball player has been awarded for being the most outstanding player of the year.