Subscribe now
Gonzaga Basketball

Gonzaga’s Joel Ayayi one of 10 on Jerry West Award list

Gonzaga guard Joel Ayayi challenges a shot attempt by BYU's Gideon George in a Jan. 7 home game. (By Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)
By Jim Meehan jimm@spokesman.com(509) 459-5585

Gonzaga junior Joel Ayayi is one of 10 candidates for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award.

Ayayi is averaging 12.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists. The 6-foot-5 native of France is second in the WCC in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.5) and third in rebounding. He would share first with teammate Drew Timme in field-goal percentage (61.2), but he doesn’t meet the requirement of five made shots per game. He’s at 4.93.

Ayayi became the first player in program history with a triple-double after posting 12 points, 13 rebounds and 14 assists against Portland. His 14 assists ranked tied for second on GU’s single-game list.

West Award candidates include Austin Peay’s Terry Taylor, Baylor’s MaCio Teague, Connecticut’s James Bouknight, Iowa’s Joe Wieskamp, Kansas’ Ochai Agbaji, LSU’s Cameron Thomas, Michigan’s Franz Wagner, Oregon’s Chris Duarte and Saint Louis’ Jordan Goodwin.

Fans are permitted to vote on the award beginning Friday at hoophallawards.com.