Florida State University Athletics
Barnes Named To Cousy Award Watch List
11/2/2020 1:02:15 PM | Men's Basketball
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (seminoles.com) – Scottie Barnes, who is set to begin his freshman season at Florida State in the coming weeks, has been named as one of 20 candidates for the prestigious Bob Cousy Award which is presented annually to the nation’s top collegiate point guard by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Barnes is one of only two players from the ACC and is one of only three freshmen in the nation named as preseason candidates for the award.
This list will be narrowed down to 10 in mid-February and then five finalists will be selected in March which will be presented to Bob Cousy and the selection committee. The winner of this award will be presented on April 9, 2021. Throughout this entire process, the list will be fluid and players will have the ability to play themselves on the list until the final five finalists are announced.
Barnes (West Palm Beach, Fla.) graduated from Montverde Academy in 2020. He averaged 11.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists in helping Montverde to a 25-0 record. The highest rated recruit at Florida State under Head Coach Leonard Hamilton and his staff, Barnes was ranked the No. 6 overall recruit and No. 1 ranked power forward in the 2020 recruiting class.
Barnes was a member of the 2019 USA Men’s Basketball Gold Medal winning U19 World Cup Team as he led the United States to the tournament championship in Greece. In leading the United States to the gold medal, he played in all seven games in the U19 World Cup and averaged 20.4 minutes played per game, 9.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.0 steal while shooting .542 percent from the field. Barnes scored 16 points versus New Zealand, 16 points against Latvia, 13 points versus Russia and 11 points in USA’s win over Mali in the gold medal game.
Barnes also helped the United States win gold medals at the U17 World Cup in 2018 and the U16 FIBA Americas Tournament in 2017. He averaged 9.5 points and 5.8 rebounds and led the USA to a 7-0 record and gold medal at the 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup in Santa Fe, Argentina.
Barnes joins a loaded Florida State roster for the 2020-21 season which returns three starters from last season when the Seminoles were expected to compete for the national championship before the coronavirus forced the NCAA Tournament to be canceled. The Seminoles’ three returning starters include senior M.J. Walker along with redshirt juniors RaiQuan Gray and Malik Osborne. A total of 13 players who contributed to the Seminoles’ 2020 ACC Championship return to help the Seminoles, who have been picked to finish among the top-10 teams in the nation and the top three teams in the ACC.
Previous winners of the Bob Cousy Award include Payton Pritchard, Oregon (2020), Ja Morant, Murray State (2019), Jalen Brunson, Villanova (2018), Frank Mason III, Kansas (2017), Tyler Ulis, Kentucky (2016), Delon Wright, Utah (2015), Shabazz Napier, Connecticut (2014), Trey Burke, Michigan (2013), Kendall Marshall, North Carolina (2012), Kemba Walker, Connecticut (2011), Greivis Vasquez, Maryland (2010), Ty Lawson, North Carolina (2009), DJ Augustin, Texas (2008), Acie Law, Texas A & M (2007), Dee Brown, Illinois (2006), Raymond Felton, North Carolina (2005) and Jameer Nelson, St. Joseph’s (2004).
Florida State has been well represented on the Cousy Award Watch List under Hamilton and is staff. Toney Douglas (2009), Xavier Rathan-Mayes (2016) and most recently Trent Forrest (2020) were also candidates for the award.
2020-21 Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Candidates
Player, School
Scottie Barnes, Fr., Florida State
Bryce Aiken, Gr., Seton Hall
Geo Baker, Sr., Rutgers
Jared Butler, Jr., Baylor
Kihei Clark, Jr., Virginia
Matt Coleman III, Sr., Texas
Jalen Crutcher, Sr., Dayton
Cade Cunningham, Fr., Oklahoma State
Ayo Dosunmu, Jr., Illinois
Marcus Garrett, Sr., Kansas
Collin Gillespie, Sr., Villanova
Jacob Gilyard, Sr., Richmond
Remy Martin, Sr., Arizona State
Colbey Ross, Sr., Pepperdine
Daron Russell, Sr., Rhode Island
Javonte Smart, Jr., LSU
Jalen Suggs, Fr., Gonzaga
D’Mitrik Trice, RSr., Wisconsin
McKinley Wright IV, Sr., Colorado
Marcus Zegarowski, Jr., Creighton