KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – University of Tennessee men’s basketball newcomer Chaz Lanier is a Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Top 20 Preseason Watch List designee, as released Tuesday afternoon by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
A 6-foot-5, 207-pounder from Nashville, Tenn., Lanier is in his first year at Tennessee after spending four seasons at North Florida.
The fifth-year standout is one of five SEC choices—the rest of the nation combined has 15—among the 20 preseason selections. The others are Arkansas’ Johnell Davis, Arkansas’ Boogie Fland, Texas’ Tre Johnson and Ole Miss’ Matthew Murrell.
Lanier is coming off a splendid 2023-24 campaign in which he garnered First Team All-ASUN distinction after averaging 19.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game for the Ospreys. He put up blistering shooting numbers, finishing with a 51.0 percent mark from the field, a 44.0 percent tally beyond the arc and an 88.0 percent mark at the line.
Synergy Sports labeled Lanier as the most efficient offensive player in the country (min. 15 possessions per game) last year. He was the only DI player to shoot at least 43.0 percent beyond the arc with at least 3.3 makes and/or 7.0 attempts per contest. In addition. Lanier ranked fifth nationally in 3-point percentage, eighth in 3-point makes per game (3.31), co-No. 19 in total made 3-pointers (106), No. 33 in free-throw percentage and No. 42 in scoring average.
The Jerry West Award Midseason Top 10 List will be announced Feb. 4, with the finalists named March 4 and the winner revealed April 4 at the Final Four. Each round, including the initial preseason watch list, features fan voting, available beginning Nov. 1 at hoophallawards.com.
Additional information on the Naismith Starting 5—there is one honoree for each position—can be found at the same link. Monday, Zakai Zeigler was chosen for the Bob Cousy Award Top 20 Preseason Watch List.
In 2023-24, Tennessee fifth-year guard Dalton Knecht, now with the Los Angeles Lakers, won the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
Jerry West Award Top 20 Preseason Watch List
Jahlil Bethea, Miami
L.J. Cryer, Houston
Johnell Davis, Arkansas
R.J. Davis, North Carolina
V.J. Edgecombe, Baylor
Boogie Fland, Arkansas
Caleb Foster, Duke
Tyon Grant-Foster, Grand Canyon
Meechie Johnson, Ohio State
Tre Johnson, Texas
Kam Jones, Marquette
Kon Knueppel, Duke
Chaz Lanier, Tennessee
Caleb Love, Arizona
Fletcher Loyer, Purdue
Aidan Mahaney, Connecticut
Zeke Mayo, Kansas
Matthew Murrell, Ole Miss
Kadary Richmond, St. John’s
Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest
