LSU point guard Donovan Dent is already on the radar before the season really gets going.
Dent was named Monday to the 20-player watch list for the 2027 Bob Cousy Award, given to the top point guard in Division I basketball by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
The fifth-year guard arrived at LSU after spending his first three seasons at New Mexico and transferring from UCLA. He remains eligible for this season after a preliminary injunction was granted last Tuesday.
Dent’s résumé is the kind that gets attention fast. The 6-foot-2 guard averaged 13.3 points on 49.0% shooting, along with 7.6 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. As a junior, he earned AP Honorable Mention All-American recognition after putting up 20.4 points on 40.8% shooting, 6.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game.
His path to Baton Rouge has already taken a few turns. Dent initially retired from basketball in May, reversed course in July and committed to coach Will Wade on Aug. 21.
He has looked the part since arriving. In LSU’s three exhibition games, Dent averaged 19 points and seven assists. After the Tigers’ 85-81 home win over Central Florida on Oct. 14, he explained what pulled him to LSU:
"Really, just Will Wade's culture. He instills a lot of confidence in his players to let you get up and down.
He's one of the best player-coaches I think in the nation. And just the atmosphere of LSU.
Like, why not come to Baton Rouge."
Dent is one of eight SEC point guards on the preseason watch list. The others are Missouri freshman Jason Crowe, Alabama senior Aden Holloway, Mississippi State senior Josh Hubbard, Auburn junior Tahaad Pettiford, Arkansas freshman Jordan Smith and Vanderbilt junior Tyler Tanner.
The 20-player list also includes LSU transfer Dedan Thomas, now a senior at Houston.
Fans will get a say in the award process in each of three rounds starting Friday. The watch list will be trimmed to 10 in February and then to five in March. Later that month, the finalists will go before Cousy and the Hall of Fame’s selection committees, which include media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers.
Last season’s winner was Arkansas freshman Darius Acuff, who later went seventh overall to the Sacramento Kings in the 2026 NBA Draft.
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