Dec. 3, 2014
ATLANTA - San Diego State forward Winston Shepard has been named to the Naismith Trophy Top-50 Watch List, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Wednesday. The junior joins Kawhi Leonard (2010-11) and Jamaal Franklin (2012-13) as the other Aztecs who have appeared on the top-50 list in previous seasons.
Hailing from Houston, Texas, Shepard leads the Aztecs in scoring at 11.8 points, while ranking second in rebounds (5.5) and fourth in assists (1.0). Last week at the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational, Shepard enjoyed a strong showing, averaging 15.0 points on 50.0 percent shooting, 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists en route to being named to the all-tournament team and earning his first career Mountain West Player-of-the-Week Award.
Entering the campaign, Shepard was the team's top returner in scoring, rebounding and assists, and was a preseason all-conference pick as voted on by the Mountain West media.
This is the third straight season an Aztec has been on the Naismith Trophy radar. In addition to Franklin in 2012-13, who also appeared on the midseason top-30 list that year, Xavier Thames was a 2013-14 midseason top-30 watch list player as well.
The Naismith Trophy Watch List will be trimmed to the aforementioned 30 on Thursday, Feb. 12.