Feb. 17, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Senior guard Ben Hansbrough (Poplar Bluff, Mo.) is one of 30 players on the 2010-11 Naismith midseason list, as announced by the Atlanta Tipoff. The Naismith Trophy, presented by AT&T, will be awarded at the 2011 NCAA Men’s Final Four in Houston.
Hansbrough, who was not on the initial Naismith list when the top 50 candidates were announced at the beginning of the season, is one of five BIG EAST players on the 30-player list. League counterparts Austin Freeman of Georgetown, Rick Jackson of Syracuse, Kemba Walker of Connecticut and Brad Wanamaker of Pittsburgh join Hansbrough on the list.
Also named to the list were Alec Burks (Colorado), Malcolm Delaney (Virginia Tech), Marcus Denmon (Missouri), Kenneth Faried (Morehead State), Jimmer Fredette (BYU), Jordan Hamilton (Texas), Tu Holloway (Xavier), Charles Jenkins (Hofstra), JaJuan Johnson (Purdue), Terrence Jones (Kentucky), Kawhi Leonard (San Diego State), Jon Leuer (Wisconsin), Demetri McCamey (Illinois), Mickey McConnell (Saint Mary’s), E’Twaun Moore (Purdue), Marcus Morris (Kansas), Kyle Singler (Duke), Chris Singleton (Florida State), Nolan Smith (Duke), Jared Sullinger (Ohio State), Isaiah Thomas (Washington), Trey Thompkins (Georgia), Klay Thompson (Washington State), Derrick Williams (Arizona) and Jordan Williams (Maryland).
Hansbrough leads the team in scoring with a career-best 17.3 average and 3.8 rebounds. He also leads the team in assists (103) and steals (31). In BIG EAST play, he is averaging 19.2 points and 4.1 rebounds. Hansbrough has netted double digits in all but two contests. He has scored 20-plus points in 10 contests and in four of the last six games. Hansbrough has netted double figures in 71 career outings and in 45 games during his career at Notre Dame. He has scored 20-plus points 17 times and in 13 games in an Irish uniform.
He has started all 60 contests since putting on an Irish uniform and scored 852 career points.