Dec. 18, 2008

ATLANTA – South Carolina junior guard Devan Downey has been named to the 2008-09 preseason Naismith Trophy Watch List, as announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club on Thursday. The watch list was compiled by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Board of Selectors, which based its selection on player performances from the previous year and expectations for the 2008-09 college basketball season.

The Big East Conference placed 11 candidates on the watch list, followed by the ACC with seven. The Southeastern Conference (SEC) and Pacific 10 (PAC-10) each placed six. North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough won the award last season.

Through the first eight games of the 2008-09 campaign, Downey leads the Gamecocks with 20.0 points, 4.8 assists and 3.5 steals per contest. He has led Carolina in points in the last five games, while his mark of seven steals against Princeton and NC Central marks the best single-game performances in the SEC this season.

The watch list does not include incoming freshmen, although those student-athletes will be considered in the first vote in February 2009. The Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T will be awarded at the 2009 NCAA Men’s Final Four in Detroit, Mich.

“The talent level across all conferences continues to impress, and that will create an even greater challenge for our voting academy when it comes time to select the winner in April,” said Gary Stokan, Atlanta Tipoff Club president. “And we look forward to this special season, our 40th anniversary of the most prestigious trophy in all of college basketball.”

For the sixth-consecutive season, presenting sponsor AT&T will once again set the standard in allowing fans to participate in determining this year’s winner. Through the power and ease of text messaging, fan voting will account for an unprecedented 25% of the final results – more than any other national college basketball award. At the beginning of February, CBS’ “AT&T at the Half” will feature a weekly Naismith Trophy update highlighting the players in contention.

In February, the Naismith Trophy voting academy, comprised of leading basketball journalists, coaches and administrators from around the country, will narrow its early season list to the Top 30 players in the nation. Those players, and others who distinguish themselves throughout the season, will be eligible for the final ballot in March.

Other notable Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year winners include Bill Walton, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and David Robinson. The Naismith Trophy is the most prestigious national award presented annually to college basketball’s player of the year.