Jamal Shead Named Naismith Player of the Year Finalist

HOUSTON – University of Houston Unanimous Consensus First-Team All-America point guard Jamal Shead received another honor when he has named a Jersey Mike's Naismith Player of the Year Finalist on Tuesday morning.

Shead was one of four student-athletes from across the nation to be named a finalist for the award, presented to the most outstanding player in college basketball. He was joined by Purdue center Zach Edey, North Carolina guard RJ Davis and Tennessee guard Dalton Knecht.

Last week, Shead was recognized as a Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Finalist. He joined Edey as the nation's only student-athletes to be a finalist for both honors.

Under the leadership of Houston Head Coach Kelvin Sampson, Shead and the Cougars have posted a 32-4 overall record and won the Big 12 regular-season championship by two games in the program's first year in the league.

#2/2 Houston has been ranked among the nation's Top-Seven leaders in both national polls and been ranked for a school-record 84 consecutive weeks dating back to the 2019-20 season.

ABOUT JAMAL SHEAD
Shead has been a leader for the Cougars throughout his career and never more so than during the 2023-24 season. He owns a 120-17 record in more than three seasons during his Houston career and needs only two more victories in 2023-24 to become the winningest player in school history.

Houston leads the nation in in scoring defense (57.0 ppg), turnover margin (7.1) and field goal percentage defense (37.9, 1^st) and ranks among the country's Top 10 in turnovers per game (8.9, 7^th) and steals per game (10.0, 7^th). The Cougars have held 22 opponents to 60 or fewer points and rank third in the country with a +16.4 scoring margin.

Shead was named the Big 12 Player of the Year by the league office and the Associated Press and also was named the conference's Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first player in Big 12 history to accomplish that feat.

It also was the second straight season in his second different league in which Shead was named Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He joined forward and Houston great Bo Outlaw as the only Cougars to accomplish that feat.

Shead stands second among the Cougars with 13.1 points per game. Shead also leads Houston and ranks among the Big 12 Top-Five leaders in assists per game (6.2, 3^rd), steals per game (2.3, 3^rd) and assist-turnover ratio (3.15, 2^nd).

Shead is the only student-athlete to rank among the nation's Top-25 leaders in all three categories.

He was named the Big 12 Player of the Week twice during the regular season 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 27 games, including 13 of the last 14 . He also dished out 10+ assists in six 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 and leads the team with five double-doubles in 2023-24.

In the Houston records book, Shead has recorded 21 games with multiple steals with 12 games with 3+ thefts, including a season-high six steals against rv/– Texas in a home win inside Fertitta Center on Feb. 17.

The Manor, Texas, native ranks third in Houston history with 224 steals and is tied for sixth in school single-season history with 78 steals to date.

2023-24 NAISMITH PLAYER of the YEAR FINALISTS

Player	Class	Position	School
Jamal Shead	Senior	Guard	Houston
Zach Edey	Senior	Center	Purdue
RJ Davis	Senior	Guard	North Carolina
Dalton Knecht	Fifth Year	Guard	Tennessee

UP NEXT
• Shead and the Cougars meet #13/14 (4) Duke in the NCAA Tournament South Region Sweet 16 at 8:35 p.m., Friday, inside American Airlines Center in Dallas
• That game will air on CBS.
• All Houston Men's Basketball games can be heard on 950 AM KPRC and the Varsity Network app.

SUPPORT YOUR COOGS
Fans can make a direct impact on the success of Houston Men's Basketball by supporting Linking Coogs – UH's NIL collective – and by joining the 50-50 Club, which provides financial support directly to Houston Men's Basketball for needs beyond its operating budget.

Fans who join the 50-50 Club will receive embroidered Jordan Brand team apparel, invitations to exclusive events, regular updates about the program and much more.

STAY CONNECTED
Fans can receive updates by following @UHCougarMBK on X, formerly known as Twitter, and catch up with the latest news and notes on the team by clicking LIKE on the team's Facebook page at UHCougarMBK or by visiting the team's Instagram page at UHCougarMBK.

– UHCougars.com –

Upcoming Events

Recent Results