Gonzaga sophomore guard Davis Fogle has landed on the Julius Erving Award Watch List, joining 19 other candidates announced Wednesday by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
The award, now in its 11th year, honors the top small forwards in Division I men's college basketball and is named for Hall of Famer Julius Erving. A national committee of top college basketball personnel selected the 20-player list.
Fogle earned conference All-Freshman Team honors last season after appearing in 29 games for Gonzaga. He averaged 8.6 points and 3.1 rebounds while shooting 51.8 percent from the field. The Anacortes, Wash., native finished his first college season with 259 points, 93 rebounds and 40 assists.
The watch list will tighten as the season moves forward. Fan voting begins Oct. 30, and in February the field will be cut from 20 to 10 before narrowing again to five in March. Those five finalists will then be presented to Erving and the Hall of Fame's selection committee in late March, when the winner is chosen.
The 2027 Julius Erving Award winner will be announced on a to-be-determined date along with the other members of the Men's Starting Five. The other awards in that group are the Bob Cousy Award for point guards, the Jerry West Award for shooting guards, the Karl Malone Award for power forwards and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award for centers.
Erving's own résumé still explains why the award carries such weight. He starred at the University of Massachusetts from 1968-70, averaging 26.3 points and 20.2 rebounds per game, one of just six NCAA men's basketball players to top 20 points and 20 rebounds per game.
He then jumped to the American Basketball Association after two seasons and became the league's most recognizable player when it merged with the NBA in 1976. Over his pro career, Erving won three championships, four MVP awards and three scoring titles.
He was named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996 and was included among the league's 75 greatest players in 2021.
Previous winners of the Julius Erving Award include AJ Dybantsa of BYU in 2026, Cooper Flagg of Duke in 2025, Dalton Knecht of Tennessee in 2024, Jalen Wilson of Kansas in 2023, Corey Kispert of Gonzaga in 2021, Saddiq Bey of Villanova in 2020, Rui Hachimura of Gonzaga in 2019, Mikal Bridges of Villanova in 2018, Josh Hart of Villanova in 2017 and Stanley Johnson of Arizona in 2015.
The full 2026-27 watch list also includes Amari Allen (Alabama), Ivan Kharchenkov (Arizona), Billy Richmond III (Arkansas), Bruce Branch III (BYU), Dame Sarr (Duke), Thomas Haugh (Florida), Andrej Stojakovic (Illinois), Tyran Stokes (Kansas), Milan Momcilovic (Kentucky), Shelton Henderson (Miami), Coen Carr (Michigan State), Pryce Sandfort (Nebraska), Anthony Thompson (Ohio State), Tounde Yessoufou (St. John's), Aiden Tobiason (Syracuse), Juke Harris (Tennessee), Nikola Kusturica (UCLA), Colben Landrew (UConn) and Amani Hansberry (Virginia Tech).
In Other News...
Lauren Whittaker Is Giving Gonzaga One More Reason To Feel Dangerous
Lisa Fortier enters the 2026-27 season with plenty of familiar pieces back in place, and Lauren Whittaker is a big reason Gonzaga looks like more than just the league favorite. The Bulldogs return 10 players from last years group, including Whittaker, the reigning WCC Player of the Year, along with Allie Turner, Jaiden Haile and Ines Bettencourt, giving a veteran roster a chance to keep building on what it already established.
Whittakers recognition this preseason only adds to the sense that Gonzaga has a team opponents will have to plan around from the start. She landed on the Becky Hammon Player of the Year Award Watch List, which tracks the top player outside the Power Five, a reminder that her profile now stretches well beyond Spokane. For a program already expected to win the Pac-12, having a player like Whittaker back in the fold makes the Bulldogs look even more dangerous. [Read more 🡒]