Miami Hurricanes sophomore Acaden Lewis is already on the radar for one of college basketball’s biggest point guard honors.
The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced Monday that Lewis is among 20 players on the 2026-27 Bob Cousy Award Watch List, putting the Miami guard in the mix for the annual award given to the nation’s top Division I point guard.
Lewis’ case starts with what he did in Miami’s exhibition win over Vanderbilt. In the Hurricanes’ 109-96 victory at the Watsco Center, he put together a lively 23-point performance, hitting 75 percent of his shots while also adding two rebounds, 10 assists and three steals in 31 minutes. The one rough edge came with seven turnovers, but that didn’t change the broader impression of a guard who handled the game on both ends.
That outing came against an actual opponent for the first time, which is why neither Lewis nor head coach Jai Lucas viewed the turnovers as a major issue.
Lewis arrives in Coral Gables with plenty of production already on his résumé. After withdrawing from this year’s NBA Draft, he officially joined a Miami roster coming off a historic 26-9 turnaround season. He’s one of eight transfers on the Hurricanes’ roster and is expected to work as a combo guard, scoring when needed while also running the offense.
His freshman year at Villanova showed exactly why he’s being watched now. In 33 games, all starts, Lewis averaged 12.2 points on 45.6 percent shooting, along with three rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.9 steals per game.
He earned All-Big East recognition both as an all-around player and among freshmen, and his assist total set a Villanova freshman program record at 176. He also piled up 63 steals, another freshman mark, and became the first Wildcat since the 1998-99 season to average at least five assists.
For Miami, the hope is that those numbers translate smoothly to the ACC.
Lewis, a Washington, D.C. native, has been working with Lucas for a while now. Lucas formed a relationship with him while serving as an assistant at Duke, and the two stayed in contact after meeting on an official visit.
Lewis initially committed to Kentucky on Nov. 2, 2024, then decommitted five months later on April 10, 2025. Lucas later brought him in for another official visit after taking over at Miami, but Lewis ultimately chose Villanova before ending up with the Hurricanes.
The Bob Cousy Award process now moves toward its next cut. The watch list will be trimmed to 10 players in February, then narrowed again to five finalists in March.
Those finalists go before Cousy and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee, which will decide the winner. Fan voting opens Friday, Oct. 30, and will run during each of the three rounds.
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Mario Cristobal Finds Himself In Another ACC Flashpoint After Miami Rout
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Narduzzi also acknowledged the offseason friction that had lingered around accusations tied to transfer portal recruiting, which had already added heat to this matchup. But he framed this latest moment differently, describing the handshake as a positive one rather than another chapter in the tension. For Miami, its the kind of sideline subplot that can follow Cristobal around even after a dominant win, especially when conference relationships have already been tested. [Read more 🡒]