Isaiah Wong Named a Top-5 Finalist for the Jerry West Award

LifeWallet athlete and Miami Hurricanes Basketball star, Isaiah Wong, was selected as one of five finalists for the prestigious Jerry West Award, according to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Baylor’s Adam Flagler, Houston’s Marcus Sasser, Kansas’ Gradey Dick and UConn’s Jordan Hawkins, all join Wong on the elite list of finalists.

The award is named after Class of 1980 Hall of Famer and 1959 NCAA Final Four Most Valuable Player Jerry West. The awards significance is to identify the top shooting guard in all of Division I men’s collegiate basketball.

Wong is averaging a team-high in points (15.9), assists (3.4) and steals (1.4) per game. In addition to being third among the ‘Canes roster in rebounding (4.4), while shooting 44.2 percent from the floor, 38.1 percent from beyond the arc and 82.9 percent at the foul line.

Wong recorded the most points in a single game this season by any Atlantic Coast Conference hooper, when he recorded 36-points versus Cornell University on December 7th, 2022. He is also the ACC Player of the Year, a two-time ACC Player of the Week nominee and was tabbed once for the USBWA National Player of the Week, during the regular season.

Collegiate basketball fans and Miami Hurricanes fans can support Wong and the Hurricanes starting on Friday, February 10th, by placing votes on hoophallawards.com. The fan’s vote will be considered as one committee vote during the finalist’s selection process, to ultimately decide the award winner.

The finalists will be presented to Jerry West and the Hall of Fame selection committee this month. The winner of the 2023 Jerry West Award will be presented on a date that is still to be determined for the month of March.

Wong and the first-seeded Miami Hurricanes will start ACC Tournament play on Thursday at 12:00 P.M. EST, versus the ninth-seeded Wake Forest Demon Decons. The contest will take place at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina, and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN or ESPN2.