College basketball is just around the corner, and it's time for all the preseason watch lists to drop. The Naismith Awards released its 2024-25 Jersey Mike's Naismith Men's and Women's Player of the Year watch list, filled with the best college basketball players in the country. Unfortunately, not a single Tiger was featured in the preseason lineup.
Last season, PJ Hall was the lone Clemson player to grace the prestigious list after averaging 15.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks a game his junior season. After leading the Tigers to a 17-7 start, Hall was selected to the Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Midseason Team.
Unfortunately, Zach Edey of Purdue took home the trophy for the second consecutive season. Since the award's conception in 1969, no one from Clemson has hoisted the trophy.
There are ACC schools other than Clemson represented, though. Those teams include Hunter Sallis (guard) from Wake Forest, Kon Knueppel (guard/forward) and Cooper Flagg (guard/forward) of Duke, North Carolina's RJ Davis (guard), and finally, Markus Burton (guard) of Notre Dame.
The other conferences boasting representation are the Big 12 (12), Big Ten (10), SEC (10), Big East (7), WCC (2), Mountain West (1), Atlantic 10 (1), WAC (1), and AAC (1). The midseason teams will be announced on February 2, 2025, and the winner will be announced on April 6, 2025.