UConn Basketball: KK Arnold, Silas Demary Jr. Receive National Recognition

· Yahoo Sports

A pair of UConn Huskies basketball players found themselves in select company on Monday, named to preseason watch lists for the nation’s top point guard awards.

On the women’s side, senior KK Arnold was named to the watch list for the 2027 Nancy Lieberman Award. For the UConn men, senior Silas Demary Jr. made the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year watch list.

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The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame presents both awards at the end of the season. The Women's Basketball Coaches Association also sponsors the Lieberman award.

Each watch list includes 20 players.

And these two names will be crucial to the success of both of these seniors – and their teams – in the 2026-27 season.

The KK Arnold file

Arnold, a 5-foot-9 guard from Germantown, Wis., already earned her way onto the 2026-27 Preseason All-Big East team. She is coming off a season that saw her register career highs in assists with 174 (4.6 per game) and shooting percentage at 54.4%.

Last season, she also won a bevy of All-Big East honors: all-conference first team, all-defensive team and all-tournament team.

UConn players have won the Lieberman Award 10 times since its inception in 2000. Sue Bird won the first three given out – 2000, ’01 and ’02, then passed on the tradition to Diana Taurasi (2003, ’04). UConn lost the hold on the trophy until Renee Montgomery (2009) reclaimed it, followed by Moriah Jefferson (2015, '16) and Paige Bueckers (2021, '25).

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark took the honor in each of the three seasons between Bueckers’ achievements. Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame received the Lieberman Award in 2026.

The Silas Demary Jr. file

Demary transferred to UConn from Georgia before the 2025-26 season and made an immediate impact for the Huskies. He led the Big East in conference play with 7.4 assists per game, averaging 5.9 throughout the entire season to go with 10.1 points and 4.5 rebounds. Demary’s efforts landed him the honor of being named Big East Preseason Player of the Year.

Defense is one of the strongest parts of Silas Demary' game for the Huskies. Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

While not a finisher in the top five, he received votes for the Associated Press Preseason All-America team.

Three other Huskies point guards have won the Bob Cousy Award. Demary has a chance to join Kemba Walker (2011), Shabazz Napier (2014) and Tristen Newton (2024) as winners.

Award notes

One other Big East player earned a spot on the Nancy Lieberman Award watch list: Jasmine Bascoe of Villanova.

Demary is among three point guards from Big East programs on the Bob Cousy Award watch list, joining Quinn Ellis of St. John’s and Nigel James Jr. of Marquette.

 

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