Virginia Tech point guard Justin Robinson has been named to the watch list for the 2019 Citizen Naismith Trophy Men's Player of the Year. The Atlanta Tipoff Club announced the list on Monday.
Robinson, a senior from Manassas, Virginia, led the Hokies in scoring and assists last season. A 2018 All-ACC second team selection, Robinson enters his senior season fifth on the all-time Virginia Tech assists list, with 435 and 45th on the school's career scoring list, with 1,041 career points. Earlier this fall, he was named second team preseason All-ACC and is on the watch list for the 2019 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award.
A list of the midseason 30 team will be released on Feb. 13, 2019, followed by the 10 national semifinalists and four finalists on March 4, 2019 and March 19, 2019 respectively. The 2019 Citizen Naismith Trophy will be awarded on at the Naismith Awards Brunch on April 7, 2019, during the Final Four in Minneapolis.
Overall, the ACC tops the list with 10 players represented, while the SEC is a close runner-up with nine candidates on the Watch List. Duke, which has won more Citizen Naismith Trophies (7) than any other school, and Kentucky lead the Watch List with three players apiece. The 2018 Naismith High School Player of the Year award winner, R.J. Barrett, also made this year's college Watch List. Players who do not make the Watch List are still eligible to be selected for the Midseason 30 Team.
The Atlanta Tipoff Club administers the Naismith Awards, the most prestigious national honors in all of college and high school basketball. Named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, inventor of the game of basketball, the family of Naismith Awards annually recognizes the top men's and women's college and high school basketball players and coaches. Other Naismith Awards are presented to the men's and women's college basketball defensive players of the year, as well as lifetime achievement awards to basketball officials and outstanding contributors to the game.
The Hokies open the 2018-19 season on Friday night, Nov. 9, as they host Gardner-Webb. The game will tip-off at 7 p.m. at the Carilion Clinic Court at Cassell Coliseum on the Virginia Tech campus.