LSU's Trendon Watford, Javonte Smart Named to Naismith Award Watch List

On Thursday, LSU sophomore forward Trendon Watford and junior guard Javonte Smart were both named to the Naismith Award watch list, given annually to the top college basketball player in the country.

Smart and Watford are two of 50 total players named and join Kentucky's BJ Johnson and Terrence Clark, Florida's Keyontae Johnson and Tennessee's Yves Pons as the nominees out of the SEC. Past winners of the award include Obi Toppin, Zion Williamson, Buddy Hield, Anthony Davis, Blake Griffin and Kevin Durant.

In 48 career games with the Tigers, Smart has averaged 11.7 points per game on 39% shooting as well as 3.2 assists. His 65-to-31 assist to turnover ratio was the best in the SEC during conference play last season.

This is an important season for Watford, who elected to return for a second season after a successful freshman campaign in Baton Rouge that earned him All-Freshman honors in the SEC. He started 30 of 31 games for the Tigers and averaged 13.6 points and 7.2 rebounds while shooting 49% from the field.

Both Watford and Smart figure to be two of the main contributors in the Tigers' quest of returning to the NCAA tournament as a top seed. Coach Will Wade, Watford and Smart are scheduled to speak on Thursday about the upcoming season opener in Lincoln, Nebraska against San Francisco.

Here's a full list of the Naismith watch list winners:

Joel Ayayi/Jr./G/Gonzaga/WCC

Scottie Barnes/Fr./G/Florida State/ACC

Charles Bassey/Jr./C/Western Kentucky/C-USA

B.J. Boston/Fr./F/Kentucky/SEC

James Bouknight/So./G/UConn/BIG EAST

Garrison Brooks/Sr./F/North Carolina/ACC

Greg Brown/Fr./F/Texas/Big 12

Jared Butler/Jr./G/Baylor/Big 12

Marcus Carr/Jr./G/Minnesota/Big Ten

Terrence Clarke/Fr./G/Kentucky/SEC

Kofi Cockburn/So./C/Illinois/Big Ten

Jalen Crutcher/Sr./G/Dayton/A-10

Cade Cunningham/Fr./G/Oklahoma State/Big 12

Oscar da Silva/Sr./F/Stanford/Pac-12

Ayo Dosunmu/Jr./G/Illinois/Big Ten

Marcus Garrett/Sr./G/Kansas/Big 12

Luka Garza/Sr./C/Iowa/Big Ten

Collin Gillespie/Sr./G/Villanova/BIG EAST

Kellan Grady/Sr./G/Davidson/A-10

A.J. Green/Jr./G/Northern Iowa/MVC

Sam Hauser/Sr./F/Virginia/ACC

Aaron Henry/Jr./F/Michigan State/Big Ten

Matthew Hurt/So./F/Duke/ACC

Trayce Jackson-Davis/So./F/Indiana/Big Ten

Jalen Johnson/Fr./F/Duke/ACC

Keyontae Johnson/Jr./F/Florida/SEC

David Johnson/So./G/Louisville/ACC

Corey Kispert/Sr./F/Gonzaga/WCC

Isaiah Livers/Sr./F/Michigan/Big Ten

Caleb Love/Fr./G/North Carolina/ACC

Sandro Mamukelashvili/Sr./F/Seton Hall/BIG EAST

Remy Martin/Sr./G/Arizona State/Pac-12

Caleb Mills/So./G/Houston/AAC

Evan Mobley/Fr./F/USC/Pac-12

Wendell Moore/Jr./So./F/Duke/ACC

Yves Pons/Sr./G/Tennessee/SEC

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl/So./F/Villanova/BIG EAST

Colbey Ross/Sr./G/Pepperdine/WCC

Fatts Russell/Sr./G/Rhode Island/A-10

Javonte Smart/Jr./G/LSU/SEC

Chris Smith/Sr./G/UCLA/Pac-12

Jalen Suggs/Fr./G/Gonzaga/WCC

MaCio Teague/Sr./G/Baylor/Big 12

Drew Timme/So./F/Gonzaga/WCC

Oscar Tshiebwe/So./F/West Virginia/Big 12

Trendon Watford/So./F/LSU/SEC

Trevion Williams/Jr./F/Purdue/Big Ten

Ziaire Williams/Fr./F/Stanford/Pac-12

McKinley Wright IV/Sr./G/Colorado/Pac-12

Marcus Zegarowski/Jr./G/Creighton/BIG EAST

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