Haws named to Naismith Award watch list

ATLANTA – BYU junior guard Tyler Haws is among the 50 players named to this season’s Naismith Award early season watch list, as announced Thursday by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.

The Naismith College Player of the Year Award is annually presented by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to the nation’s premier men’s and women’s college basketball players. Earlier this season, Haws was listed on the 50-man Wooden Award watch list.

Haws is off to a strong start in 2013-14, averaging 26.3 points per game and 8.0 rebounds per game. He opened the season with 28 points and 13 boards against Weber State and followed that with a 31-point effort at Stanford.

Last season, Haws was seventh in the nation and first in the West Coast Conference in scoring at 21.7 points per game. He led BYU to a 24-12 record and a trip to the NIT Semifinals in Madison Square Garden.

BYU returns to action on Monday against Texas in the College Basketball Experience Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City, Mo. The game is scheduled to tip at 6:30 p.m. CT and will be televised live on ESPNU.