Jamal Shead Named Top 5 Finalist for Bob Cousy Award

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POSTED: March 4, 2024 -- 1:30 p.m. CT

Monday afternoon, Houston Cougars senior point guard Jamal Shead was recognized as one of the Top 5 finalists for the 2024 Bob Cousy Award, presented by the Naismith Basketball of Fame.

The annual Bob Cousy Award, named after the Class of 1971 Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic and Holy Cross guard, celebrates its 21st year by highlighting the top point guard in Division I men's college basketball.

Houston fans can support Shead in the remaining rounds by participating in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies beginning Mar. 8 at hoophallawards.com. The Fan Vote will count as one committee vote during the finalist selection process.

The Hall of Fame Selection Committee for the Bob Cousy Award is composed of top men's college basketball personnel, including media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers.

The winner of the 2024 Bob Cousy Award will be presented on a to-be-determined date, along with the other four members of the Men's Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Jerry West Award (Shooting Guard), Julius Erving Award (Small Forward), Karl Malone Award (Power Forward), and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award (Center), in addition to the Women's Starting Five.

Shead has been a leader for the Cougars throughout his career and never more so than during the 2023-24 season.

In the Cougars' 87-85 win at Oklahoma on Saturday night, Shead snared the offensive rebound following his miss and drained a jumper with 0.4 seconds remaining to break a tie and lift Houston to its seventh straight Big 12 victory.

Shead is second among the Cougars with 15.5 points per game. He also leads Houston and ranks among the Big 12 Top-Five leaders in assists per game (6.1, 3rd), steals per game (2.3, 3rd) and assist-turnover ratio (3.11, 2nd).

Shead is the only student-athlete to rank among the nation's Top-20 leaders in all three categories.

He twice was named the Big 12 Player of the Week and was recognized as the Naismith Trophy Player of the Week for Feb. 26 and the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for Jan. 23.

Shead has scored double-digit points in 20 games, including six of the last seven. He also dished out 10+ assists in four games this season with a career-high 29-point, 10-assist performance at #21/19 BYU on Jan. 23. He is the only Cougar to record points-rebounds AND points-assists double-doubles in 2023-24.

Shead owns a 114-16 record in more than three seasons during his Houston career and needs only eight more victory in 2023-24 to become the winningest player in school history.

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