St. John's University Athletics
Shamorie Ponds Places on Midseason Watch List for Wooden Award
1/9/2019 8:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Junior guard among 25 considered for national player of the year recognition
QUEENS, N.Y. – Just a day after garnering a pair of national player of the week awards, Shamorie Ponds was one of 25 individuals named to the midseason watch list for the John R. Wooden Award on Wednesday night.
Presented by the Los Angeles Athletic Club and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the Wooden Award recognizes the top player in college basketball at the end of the season.
Ponds has proven to be one of the nation's top talents over the course of his junior season, averaging 20.6 points, 6.0 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game in a 14-2 start for the Red Storm. That 14-2 record matches the best start for a St. John's team since the 1990-91 squad went 15-2 to begin the season.
A two-time BIG EAST Player of the Week and a four-time selection to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll, Ponds has scored 20 or more points in nine of his 16 appearances this season with four showings of 33 points or better, all of which have come either on the road on at neutral sites.
The sharpshooting southpaw currently ranks third in the BIG EAST in scoring while pacing the league in assists and steals. The Brooklyn native also boasts the conference's second best assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.9-to-1.
The league's leading scorer a year ago at 21.6 points per game, Ponds has recorded a similar scoring total at a much more efficient rate in 2018-19. The junior guard is shooting 49.5 percent from the field compared 42.0 percent as a sophomore. His most noticeable improvement has been from beyond the three-point arc, hitting at a 40.0 percent clip from distance compared to last year's 25.3 percent success rate.
In addition to his Wooden Award Watch List selection, Ponds also found a spot on the midseason watch list for the Lute Olsen Award, presented by College Insider to the top player in Division I men's basketball.
Ponds and the Red Storm will return to action on Saturday evening, taking on DePaul inside Carnesecca Arena. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. on CBS Sports Network and 570 AM WMCA.
Presented by the Los Angeles Athletic Club and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the Wooden Award recognizes the top player in college basketball at the end of the season.
Ponds has proven to be one of the nation's top talents over the course of his junior season, averaging 20.6 points, 6.0 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game in a 14-2 start for the Red Storm. That 14-2 record matches the best start for a St. John's team since the 1990-91 squad went 15-2 to begin the season.
A two-time BIG EAST Player of the Week and a four-time selection to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll, Ponds has scored 20 or more points in nine of his 16 appearances this season with four showings of 33 points or better, all of which have come either on the road on at neutral sites.
The sharpshooting southpaw currently ranks third in the BIG EAST in scoring while pacing the league in assists and steals. The Brooklyn native also boasts the conference's second best assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.9-to-1.
The league's leading scorer a year ago at 21.6 points per game, Ponds has recorded a similar scoring total at a much more efficient rate in 2018-19. The junior guard is shooting 49.5 percent from the field compared 42.0 percent as a sophomore. His most noticeable improvement has been from beyond the three-point arc, hitting at a 40.0 percent clip from distance compared to last year's 25.3 percent success rate.
In addition to his Wooden Award Watch List selection, Ponds also found a spot on the midseason watch list for the Lute Olsen Award, presented by College Insider to the top player in Division I men's basketball.
Ponds and the Red Storm will return to action on Saturday evening, taking on DePaul inside Carnesecca Arena. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. on CBS Sports Network and 570 AM WMCA.
Players Mentioned
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