Oregon basketball senior guard Chris Duarte was named a Jerry West Award finalist on Tuesday. This award is given annually to the nation’s best shooting guard.
Duarte is averaging an Oregon career-high 16.8 points per game on 53% shooting from the field and 42% from beyond the arc. He has also been a threat on the defensive end, leading the Pac-12 in steals with 2.1 per game.
Duarte, whose journey started at Northwest Florida State College, transferred to the University of Oregon before the 2019 season.
In his Junior year, Duarte averaged a respectable 12.1 points per game alongside fellow guards Payton Pritchard and Will Richardson. This season, Duarte took control of the team and it’s showing in his numbers.
Duarte joins other Jerry West Award finalists Joel Ayayi of Gonzaga, Quentin Grimes of Houston, MaCio Teague of Baylor, and Joe Wieskamp of Iowa. The winner will be announced on April 9, 2021.
If Duarte were to take home the award, he would join the likes of D’Angelo Russell, Ohio State (2015), Buddy Hield, University of Oklahoma (2016), Malik Monk, University of Kentucky (2017), Carsen Edwards, Purdue University (2018) R.J. Barrett, Duke (2019), Myles Powell, Seton Hall (2020).
