College Notebook

Kennard named Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award Finalist

Duke sophomore guard Luke Kennard was named a finalist for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award on Tuesday when the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame released the 10-player final list.

Kennard leads Duke in scoring with an average of 20.2 points per game, shooting .540 from the floor, .469 from outside the arc and .850 from the free throw line. He is also averaging 5.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per contest

He’s on pace to become the first Duke player to average at least 20.0 points while shooting at least 50 percent from the field since Christian Laettner in 1992.

For his career, Kennard owns averages of 15.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 29.6 minutes. He is a career .475 shooter from the floor, .379 from three-point range and .868 from the free throw line. After just 58 career games, he is only 130 points shy of joining Duke’s 1,000-point club.

In March, the list of finalists for the West Award will be cut to five and presented to the Hall of Fame’s selection committee, of which West is a member. The winner will be presented at the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show at The Novo by Microsoft in Los Angeles on April 7.

N.C. State: The Wolfpack (14-8, 3-6 ACC) returns home to PNC Arena to host Syracuse (13-9, 5-4 ACC) at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Campbell: The Camels hope for its first regular season series sweep of Gardner-Webb Wednesday when they host the Runnin’ Bulldogs at 7 p.m. The team defeated GWU 76-60 on Jan. 11 at Boiling Springs.

UNC: The Tar Heels, the reigning NCAA Champion, has been selected as the preseason favorite in the 2017 ACC Men’s Lacrosse Preseason Poll. The team received 23 points, including four first place votes, in balloting among the ACC’s five head coaches. Seniors Austin Pifan, Luke Goldstock, Michael Taliaferri and Tate Jozokos were selected to the Preaseason All-ACC Team.

Duke: With the 2017 lacrosse season just five days away, the Blue Devils were selected to finish fourth in the ACC in a preseason vote of the league’s five coaches. Junior attackman Justin Guterding represented the Blue Devils on the Preseason All-ACC Team.

UNC: The Tar Heels will start the 2017 season where it ended 2016 – atop the preseason national polls. Both the IWLCA and the Cascade Women’s Division I Media poll list UNC at No. 1 to start 2017 after winning the NCAA title and finishing NO. 1 in both polls last year. Seniors Maggie Auslander, Caylee Waters and juniors Maggie Bill, Marie McCool were selected to the Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-American First Team, while seniors Molly Hendrick and Sammy Jo Tracy were selected to the Second Team. Junior Ela Hazar received Honorable Mention.

Duke: The team enters its first game week of the 2017 campaign ranked 10th in both the IWLCA Division I Coaches Poll and the Inside Lacrosse Cascade Women’s Division I Media Poll.

UNC: Juniors J.B. Bukauskas and Brian Miller were named to Baseball America’s annual preseason All-America list that features the nation’s top college talent as voted by a selection of scouts and crosscheckers from throughout professional baseball. Bukauskas was a first-team selection, while Miller was named to the second team.

Wake Forest: Senior captain Parker Dunshee was named a Preseason Third Team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Associationthe organization announced on Tuesday. Dunshee, returning for his senior season after being drafted in the 14th round by the Chicago Cubs a year ago, was a third team All-ACC pick in 2016.

Campbell: Third-year Head Coach Justin Haire has announced the Camels’ 13-man early signing class for 2016-17. The class includes five pitchers, four utility players, three infielders and a catcher, hailing from eight different states, led by three from North Carolina. The group is the third straight nationally ranked high school recruiting class by Perfect Game (Top 100). Three players from last year’s signing class were drafted into the MLB first year player draft.

Saint. Augustine’s: On Wednesday, the team will make its season debut against Barton College in a doubleheader at Nixon Field in Wilson N.C. The first game starts at 1 p.m. followed by the second game at 4 p.m. The Falcons return eight lettermen and three redshirt players including standout pitcher Marquis Johnson.

Durham Sports Club: Mike Fox, Head Baseball Coach at UNC will be the guest speaker Wednesday. Fox is entering his 19th season as the Heels’ Coach. Meetings of the Durham Sports Club are open to the public. The fee for guests is $25 per person, which includes lunch and our speaker’s presentation.

Raleigh Sports Club: Elliott Avent, Head Baseball Coach at NCSU will be the guest speaker Wednesday. Avent captured both ACC and National Coach of the Year honors in 2003. Meetings are held in Bradley Hall at Highland United Methodist Church, 1901 Ridge Road at the corner of Lake Boone Trail, just inside the I-440 Beltline.

UNC: Senior Ronnie Schneider has been named ACC Player of the Week, as announced Tuesday by the league. Schneider, a business major and team captain, led the Tar Heels to two home court wins last week in ITA Kick-Off Weekend play. Last weekend’s wins earned the Tar Heels a spot in the 16-team field for the ITA National Indoor Team Championships, Feb. 17-20 in Charlottesville, Va.

Duke: After guiding the program to its first dual meet victory over North Carolina since 1939, sophomore Evan Moretti was named the ACC Men’s Diver of the Week for the second time this season after besting the field in Chapel Hill on the one-meter springboard. Sophomore Max St. George also shares the ACC Male Swimmer of the Week honors, his first weekly conference award after sweeping both men’s backstroke races Saturday at Koury Natatorium.

UNC: Elissa Dawson has been named the ACC Women’s Diver of the Week. Dawson met NCAA zone diving qualification scores four times as she swept all four diving events in dual meet competitions against ninth-ranked N.C. State and No. 22 Duke.

N.C. State: After sweeping North Carolina and Virginia over the weekend, Ryan Held was named Co-ACC Male Swimmer of the Week while freshman Ky-Lee Perry earned ACC Female Swimmer of the Week honors.

Duke: Heavyweight Jacob Kasper captured his second ACC Wrestler of the Week honor of the year as the Blue Devils head into a midweek dual at Gardner-Webb, 7 p.m. Wednesday in Boiling Springs against the Runnin’ Bulldogs.

Duke: Head Coach Robbie Church announced Tuesday assistant coach Erwin van Bennekom has been elevated to associate head coach effective immediately. Over the last two seasons since joining the Blue Devils, van Bennekom has helped lead the team to 29 overall wins, 11 ACC victories, an NCAA Championship game appearance along with a NCAA Elite Eight finish.

Mount Olive: Student-athletes Nick Greyno and Jonathan Dahlke have been named the Conference Carolinas Athletes of the Week for meets held Jan. 23-29, the conference announced today.

Mount Olive: Student-athletes Leah Hanle and Taylor Moncrief have been named the Conference Carolinas Athletes of the Week for meets held Jan. 23-29, the conference announced today.

Campbell: The university has placed 43 student-athletes on the Pioneer Football League’s 2015 Academic Honor Roll. The PFL recognized a record 616 total student-athletes from its 11 member institutions to the 2015 PFL Academic Honor Roll. The Camels’ 53 honorees are the second-highest in program history, falling just short of 2011’s 56.

From news releases

This story was originally published January 31, 2017 at 11:30 PM with the headline "College Notebook."