38 F
Clarksville
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeSportsAPSU Basketball's Terry Taylor named to Lute Olson Award Mid-Season Watch List

APSU Basketball’s Terry Taylor named to Lute Olson Award Mid-Season Watch List

APSU Men's BasketballClarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University (APSU) men’s basketball senior Terry Taylor has been named to the Lute Olson Award Mid-Season Watch List by CollegeInsider.com.

The Lute Olson Award is presented annually to the nation’s top Division I player.

Austin Peay State University  Basketball's Terry Taylor named to Lute Olson Award Mid-Season Watch List. (APSU Sports Information)

The recipient of 2020-21 award will be announced in April. The award is named in honor of Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson, who won 776 games in 34 seasons, 24 of which were spent at the University of Arizona.

During that stretch he led the Wildcats to 11 Pac-10 Conference titles, 23 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, four Final Four appearances, and a National Championship in 1997.

The 2020 Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year and back-to-back league Preseason Player of the Year, Taylor has more than lived up to the hype once again as a senior. Through 13 games, the Bowling Green Kentucky native is averaging 21.2 points and 10.8 rebounds to lead the league in both categories, while 55.1 percent from the floor and 83.3 percent from the free-throw line.

Taylor has already put up multiple individual performances that would be career outings for a lesser player in 2020-21. He opened the season with five consecutive double-doubles, including a 25-point, 16-rebound outing against East Tennessee State on the second night of the season. He poured in 31 points against McKendree. He slapped up 31 points and 13 rebounds to avenge a loss to Murray State. Most recently, he put up 38 points and 17 rebounds—both single-game highs by an OVC player this season—and banked in the game-winning three as time expired to lift the Govs to a victory at Eastern Illinois, January 9th.

Three times this season, Taylor has earned OVC Player of the Week honors, tying him with Morehead State’s Kenneth Faried for most in conference history with 15 career weekly honors. He also was named CollegeInsider.com Player of the Week in two of those weeks.

Just last week, Taylor broke into the OVC’s career top-10 in scoring with 2,199 career points. He’s one of five players in league history with 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds, and the first Governor to reach both marks. He’s the only OVC player aside from Belmont’s Nick Muszynski to be named to the Lute Olson Award Mid-Season Watch List.

Taylor has a chance to become the first two-time OVC Player of the Year since Isaiah Canaan (Murray State, 2012-13) and just the second Governor to earn two OVC Player of the Year honors, joining Howard (1977-78). He also was named to the Jerry West Award Preseason Watch List.

RELATED ARTICLES

Latest Articles