LeVert Lands Name On Lute Olson Award Watch List
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Junior guard Caris LeVert of the University of Michigan men's basketball team was named today (Wednesday, Nov. 12) to the Lute Olson preseason All-America team as well as selected to the watch list for the Lute Olson National Player of the Year award.
LeVert, who was a preseason All-Big Ten team selection, is one of five Big Ten players selected to the preseason list joining Wisconsin's Sam Dekker and Frank Kaminsky, Michigan State's Branden Dawson and Nebraska's Terran Petteway.
LeVert, who was an All-Big Ten second team selection last season, had a breakout sophomore campaign as he started all 37 games and averaged 12.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. He helped the Wolverines to their first outright Big Ten title since 1986 as well as a second straight appearance in the NCAA Elite Eight.
LeVert was named to the 2014 USBWA All-District V Team and received U-M's Rudy Tomjanovich Most Improved Player and Steve Grote Hustle awards at the Wolverines' annual postseason celebration. In LeVert's two seasons in Ann Arbor, Michigan has compiled a 59-17 overall record and a 27-9 Big Ten mark. He was also part of U-M's 2013 NCAA national runner-up squad.
The Lute Olson Award is presented annually to the nation's top Division I player who has played at least two seasons with his respective team. Freshmen and first-year transfers can be named to the season-ending All-America team but are not eligible to receive the Player of the Year honors.
The award is named in honor of coaching great Lute Olson, who won 780 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 2015 recipient will be announced at the CollegeInsider.com Awards Banquet at the Final Four on April 3 in Indianapolis, Ind.
2015 Lute Olson Award Preseason Watch List
Ron Baker, Wichita State
Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky
Branden Dawson, Michigan State
Sam Dekker, Wisconsin
Perry Ellis, Kansas
Marcus Foster, Kansas State
Michael Frazier II, Florida
Jerian Grant, Notre Dame
Olivier Hanlan, Boston College
Montrezl Harrell, Louisville
Aaron Harrison, Kentucky
D'Angelo Harrison, St. John's
Tyler Haws, BYU
LaDontae Henton, Providence
Buddy Hield, Oklahoma
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Arizona
Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin
Caris LeVert, Michigan
Marcus Paige, North Carolina
Kevin Pangos, Gonzaga
Terran Petteway, Nebraska
Chasson Randle, Stanford
Juwan Staten, West Virginia
Fred VanVleet, Wichita State
Delon Wright, Utah
Caris LeVert's 2014-15 Preseason Accolades
• Preseason All-Big Ten Team
• Watch List, Lute Olson National Player of the Year
• Lute Olson Preseason All-America Team
• Blue Ribbon Preseason All-America, Second Team
• CBSSports.com Preseason All-America, Second Team
• Athlon Sports, Preseason All-America, Second Team
• CollegeSportsMadness.com, Preseason All-America, Third Team
• BTN.com Preseason All-Big Ten, First Team (unanimous selection)
• Blue Ribbon Preseason All-Big Ten, First Team
• Athlon Sports Preseason All-Big Ten, First Team
• CollegeSportsMadness.com Preseason All-Big Ten, First Team
• Athlon Sports, Preseason All-Junior, Second Team
• Athlon Sports, No. 1 ranked "Slasher"
• Athlon Sports, Big Ten's Most Underrated Player
• Athlon Sports, Top Shooting Guards, No. 12
