The U.S. Basketball Writers Association announced on Thursday that Iowa forward Kris Murray has been named to the Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List.
The Oscar Robertson Trophy is an annual award given to the most outstanding Division One men’s basketball player by the USBWA. It is considered the oldest trophy of its kind, first awarded to its namesake Oscar Robertson back in 1959. The most recent recipient was Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe.
Of course it wasn’t always named after the Big O, it would be ridiculous to name a trophy after the player receiving the award. The Hall of Fame point guard’s name has been attached to the trophy since 1998.
Kris Murray is currently leading the 12-6 (at the time of writing this) Hawkeyes in both points (21.2) and rebounds (nine) per game. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa native has reached thirty points on four occasions this season, the only Power-Five conference player to do so. This is despite missing four games in December due to a lower body injury.
For Murray, this is the third major award watchlist that he finds himself on. The forward is also currently on the watchlist for both the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 and the Karl Malone Award Watch List. Kris’ twin brother Keegan won the Karl Malone Award last season, while current Minnesota Timberwolf Luka Garza was the Oscar Robertson Trophy winner back in 2021.
Currently leading a surging Hawkeyes unit, it seems as though all of the preseason hype surrounding Murray is proving to be well warranted.
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