Braylon Mullins, UConn’s third straight preseason Big East Freshman of the Year, was one of 20 players named to the watch list for the Julius Erving Award, which is given annually to the nation’s top small forward.
UConn fans will have to wait a bit to see the Indiana Mr. Basketball winner in a game that counts as he deals with an ankle injury, but coach Dan Hurley has encouraged the excitement, calling Mullins “a flame thrower; an excellent offensive player and one of the better perimeter defenders,” after Tuesday night’s exhibition win over Michigan State.
Mullins’ ankle was initially estimated to require a six-week timetable for recovery, though his father says he’s a “fast healer,” according to Hurley. Fans did get to see him in action prior to the injury in the Huskies’ first exhibition game at Mohegan Sun Arena, when he scored 12 points in 17 minutes in a win over Boston College.
The Julius Erving Award is part of the Naismith Starting Five, which has already had great UConn representation as it continues to release its watch lists for the positional awards this week with point guard Silas Demary Jr. named a top-20 preseason candidate for the Bob Cousy Award, and shooting guard Solo Ball for the Jerry West Award. The watch lists for the Karl Malone Award (power forwards) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award (centers) will be released on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
Julius Erving Award watch list
Nate Ament, Tennessee; Chad Baker-Mazara, USC; Miles Byrd, SDSU; Coen Carr, Michigan State; Eric Dailey Jr., UCLA; Tucker DeVries, Indiana. A.J. Dybantsa, BYU.
Isiah Harwell, Houston; Karter Knox, Arkansas; Fletcher Loyer, Purdue; Milan Momcilovic, Iowa State; Braylon Mullins, UConn; Derrion Reid, Oklahoma.
Devin Royal, Ohio State; Dame Sarr, Duke; Andrej Stojakovic, Illinois; Dailyn Swain, Texas; LeJuan Watts, Texas Tech; Darrion Williams, N.C. State; Tounde Yessoufou, Baylor.
