Justin Wright-Foreman of Hofstra a finalist for the Jerry West Award
Hofstra guard Justin Wright-Foreman dribbles the ball up court against Delaware in the first half of a CAA men's basketball game at Mack Sports Complex on Dec. 28, 2018. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Justin Wright-Foreman of Hofstra has been named a finalist for the Jerry West Award, the honor given to the top shooting guard in the country. He is the only player from a mid-major team selected among the final five.
The senior from Queens, who led the Pride to the CAA regular season title, is in heady company. Among the others included in the final voting for the West Award is R.J. Barrett of Duke, who has been projected by some analysts as a potential top two pick in the NBA Draft. Also on the list are Kyle Guy of Virginia, Jarrett Culver of Texas Tech and Carsen Edwards of Purdue.
For Hofstra, having a player mentioned in that conversation is an honor in itself. For Wright-Foreman, it represents stunning growth from his freshman year, when he never started a game and averaged only 1.6 points.
He is averaging 26.8 points, second in the nation. His career total of 2,210 is within 12 of third place on Hofstra’s all-time list. He has scored 30 or more points 22 times in his career.
Wright-Foreman enters the CAA conference tournament with a streak of 84 consecutive games in double-figure scoring. That is the second-longest current streak (to Chris Clemons of Campbell) and ranks eighth all time. This season, he has passed Rick Mount, Tom McMillen, Dick Groat, David Robinson, Reggie Lewis and most recently Pete Maravich.
The Pride is 25-6 overall, 15-3 in conference play. It will open the tournament Sunday in North Charleston, South Carolina, as the top seed and will play at noon against the winner of Saturday’s Towson-James Madison game.
