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Chris Livingston Named to Julius Erving Award Watch List

Chris Livingston has been named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s preseason watch list for the 2023 Julius Erving Award

freshman was named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's preseason watch list for the 2023 Julius Erving Award on Wednesday. Named after the Naismith Hall of Famer and  and NBA icon, the award is in its ninth year.

Livingston, from Akron, Ohio, was a consensus five-star prospect, averaging 18.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists per contest as a senior at Oak Hill Academy after spending his first three years at Buchtel High School. Named a McDonald's All-American and to the Jordan Brand Classic roster, Livingston was listed as the No. 10 overall player by Rivals, No. 11 by 247Sports and No. 12 by ESPN. Livingston was named the 2022 Gatorade Virginia Player of the Year after earning Gatorade Ohio Player of the Year honors as a junior in 2021.

The freshman is one of 20 candidates on the list for best small forward in college basketball. Kentucky is the only school with a total of four players on the three announced watch lists after  was named to the Bob Cousy Award watch list and Antonio Reeves and Cason Wallace were selected to the Jerry West Award watch list earlier this week. Other  candidates on the Erving Award watch list are 's Josiah-Jordan James, Alabama's Brandon Miller and Arkansas' Jordan Walsh.

Fans are encouraged to participate in voting in each of the three rounds for the Naismith awards. In late January, all of the lists will be narrowed down to 10 players and five in February. Winners will be announced at a to be determined date.

The Cats will play exhibition contests against Missouri Western State on Oct. 30 and Kentucky State on Nov. 3 at Rupp Arena. Kentucky's home-opener against Howard is set for 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 7.

On This Day In UK Basketball History

On March 28, 1992, in what many called the “best NCAA Tournament game ever,” Kentucky takes defending NCAA champion Duke into overtime before losing 104-103 in the East Regional finals in Philadelphia. A last-second shot by Christian Laettner sends Duke to the Final Four, and breaks the hearts of Wildcat fans everywhere. It is Cawood Ledford’s last game as the “Voice of the Wildcats.”

 

On March 28, 1998, against Stanford, Kentucky rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit, then grabbed a 5-point overtime lead, before fending off the Cardinals to advance to the title game for the third straight season. Jeff Sheppard canned three long-range three-pointers - two in the final three minutes and one in overtime - en route to a career-high 27 points.

 

On March 28, 2014, unranked Kentucky beat No. 5 Louisville 74-69, in the 2014 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.  Aaron Harrison buried a three-pointer from the left corner with 39 seconds left that put UK ahead to stay before 41,072 in Lucas Oil Stadium.

 

On March 28, 2015, No. 1 Kentucky defeated No. 8 Notre Dame, 68-66, in the 2015 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.  With its 37-0 record on the line, Kentucky trailed Notre Dame 59-53 with 6:14 left. UK rallied in front of 19,464 fans in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena and preserved its perfect season thanks to a crucial blocked shot by Willie Cauley-Stein and two game-deciding free throws from Andrew Harrison in the final seconds.

 

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