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UCLA Basketball: Four Bruins Are Finalist for Player of the Year Awards

By Mike Regalado

December 10, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Bryce Alford (20) and forward TJ Leaf (22) help up guard Lonzo Ball (2) against the Michigan Wolverines during the second half at Pauley Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
December 10, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Bryce Alford (20) and forward TJ Leaf (22) help up guard Lonzo Ball (2) against the Michigan Wolverines during the second half at Pauley Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /
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The UCLA Basketball team has four players that have been named to four prestigious award watch lists.

The UCLA Basketball team has made marked improvements from last season as they have gone from a 15-17 team to a 20-3 team that still has eight games left in the regular season.

Part of that success has to do with the talents of freshmen Lonzo Bal and TJ Leaf, but the Bruins are also getting help from their veterans, specifically Bryce Alford and Thomas Welsh.

These four players have made incredible contributions to the team this year which has gained them a lot of attention, especially from a few award committees.

All four players have recently been named as finalists on four separate award watch lists, which is as follows:

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Lonzo Ball – Bob Cousy Award (best point guard in the nation)

TJ Leaf – Karl Malone Award (best power forward)

Bryce Alford – Jerry West Award (best shooting guard)

Thomas Welsh – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award (best center)

Lonzo Ball has energized the Bruins with his uptempo style of play. He is very unselfish — he always looks for a better shot than his own — and because of that he is 2nd in the entire NCAA with 8.0 per game.

TJ Leaf just came off of a monster game in which he scored 32 against Washington State, part of the reason he is leading UCLA in scoring with 17.0 ppg.

Bryce Alford is having a spectacular senior season at the shooting guard spot. Not only is he second on the team in scoring with 16.2 ppg, but has dramatically increased his field goal percentage from .385 last season to .477 this year.

Thomas Welsh was injured toward the end of non-conference play, but was still able to make this prestigious list, specifically because of his improvements and contributions. This season he is averaging 10.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.

Next: UCLA Basketball: Predicting the 2nd Half of the Conference Season

With all this talent, the Bruins will hopefully obtain some of these individual awards and hopefully pair them up with some team hardware. Championship, anyone? Go Bruins!