NCAA Basketball: Ranking top 20 Bob Cousy Award players for 2023-24 season

The Bob Cousy Award is the top prize given to the top point guard in each NCAA Basketball season. Last season’s winner was Tyler Kolek, who was third in the country in assists (7.5 apg), leading Marquette to 29 wins and a Big East regular-season/tournament championship.

Kolek is back to defend his title but will have plenty of competition this time around, including some five-star freshmen new faces. But which of them has the best chance at winning the award this season? I’ll be ranking the 20 award candidates that came out on Monday.

https://x.com/jeffborzello/status/1716501937888149593?s=20

20. Zakai Zeigler – Tennessee Volunteers

2022-23 season stats: 10.7 ppg and 5.4 apg

Zeigler is a two-time All-SEC defender and an effective lead guard, whether coming off the bench or starting. He’s not going to have many big outings on offense but as one of the faces of a top-10 caliber Vols squad, Zeigler has a shot to be in the mix. The problem is that he’s currently recovering from a injury last season and could come out the gate slowly. And with Santiago Vescovi and other guard transfers coming in, he’s going to have a tougher time standing out.

19. Jahvon Quinerly – Memphis Tigers

2022-23 season stats (at Alabama): 8.7 ppg and 3.6 apg

The former SEC 6th Man of the Year and key piece on a 1 seed team, Quinerly has a chance to put up his best numbers yet in his final year. The problem is that there’s no clue how the pecking order at Memphis will work or who’ll end up being the standout players. There’s a chance that Quinerly ends up as a solid starter but not the “star” of the team and to get this award, he’ll need the be option B.