K-State guard Markquis Nowell named best point guard

MANHATTAN, Kan. (WIBW) - Kansas State Wildcats’ senior guard Markquis Nowell has been named the winner of the 2023 Bob Cousy award.

The Bob Cousy Award is handed out to the best point guard in NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball and honors former NBA Boston Celtics Bob Cousy, who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971. It is part of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame’s Starting Five awards, which includes the Jerry West Award (best shooting guard), the Julius Erving Award (best small forward), the Karl Malone Award (best power forward) and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award (best center).

The senior averaged a team-best 17.6 points per game, a Big 12-best 8.3 assists per game and 2.6 steals per game. His assist and steal totals were the second best in the nation. He leaves K-State as the career leader in assists per game (6.87) and the single-season leader in total assists, assists per game and total steals.

The 5-foot-7 Harlem, NY native ended his college career leading the Wildcats to their 13th Elite Eight in school history. In the tournament, he averaged 23.5 points per game, 13.5 assists per game and 4.0 steals per game, en route to his honor as the Most Outstanding Player in the East Region.

Nowell’s 54 assists in his four games in the 2023 NCAA Tournament are the third-most in tournament history, including a tournament record-setting 19 assists in the Sweet 16 against Michigan State.

Nowell is the first Wildcat to win one of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Starting Five awards. Joining him as the 2023 winners are Houston’s Marcus Sasser (Jerry West Award), Kansas’ Jalen Wilson (Julius Erving Award), Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis (Karl Malone Award) and Purdue’s Zach Edey (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award).