Selden a Top-5 Finalist for Julius Erving Award

Link HoopHallAwards.com

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Kansas junior guard Wayne Selden Jr., has been named one of five finalists for the 2016 Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced Wednesday.

Joining Selden as finalists are Brandon Ingram (Duke), Ben Simmons (LSU), Denzel Valentine (Michigan State) and DeAndre Bembry (Saint Joseph’s).

The winner of the 2016 Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award will be determined by a combination of fan votes and input from the Basketball Hall of Fame’s selection committee. Fans are encouraged to visit HoopHallAwards.com to cast their votes from March 11-25.

Selden has started all but one game of Kansas in his three-year KU career missing only the 2016 Senior Day. The Roxbury, Massachusetts native averages 13.4 scoring for the top-ranked Jayhawks, which is ninth in the Big 12. A 2016 All-Big 12 Second Team selection, Selden has five 20-point efforts this season and Kansas’ current 11-game winning streak began when Selden scored a career-high 33-points against Kentucky on Jan. 30 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

Selden makes 2.1 3-pointers per game, which is third in the league and his 41.8 3-point field goal percentage is sixth in the conference. Selden has made multiple 3-pointers in 16 games this season.

Named after Hall of Famer and 11-time NBA All-Star Julius Erving, the annual honor in its second year recognizes the top small forwards in Division I men’s college basketball. A national committee comprised of top college basketball personnel narrowed the original watch list of 20 candidates down to 10 and now the final five.

The winner of the 2016 Julius Erving Award will be awarded at ESPN’s College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy’s from Club Nokia in Los Angeles on Friday, April 8, 2016. The Awards will be televised live on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. CST.

No. 1/1 Kansas (27-4, 15-3) won its unprecedented 12th-straight Big 12 regular-season championship in 2015-16. It was KU’s 16th Big 12 and NCAA-leading 59th overall conference regular-season title. Kansas will next play in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, March 9-12, at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. As the No. 1 seed, Kansas will play its first game on Thursday, March 10 at 1:30 p.m. (Central), on ESPN2. KU will face the winner of the No. 8 Kansas State vs. No. 9 Oklahoma State contest to be played March 9. Kansas has won 13 conference postseason tournament titles, including nine in the Big 12 era.

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