Isiah Harwell Named to Julius Erving Award Watch List

10/29/2025 9:55:00 AM | Men's Basketball

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Freshman guard is one of 20 candidates nationally to earn preseason recognition

By: Jeff Conrad

Isiah Harwell, Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Preseason Watch List

HOUSTON – As he continues to prepare for Monday's season opener, University of Houston freshman guard Isiah Harwell was recognized on the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Top 20 Preseason Watch List on Wednesday.

Harwell is in his first season with the Cougars as a member of one of the nation's top recruiting classes and made his debut in #2/2 Houston's win over rv/– Mississippi State during The Preview CBB Exhibition inside Fort Bend Epicenter in Rosenberg, Texas, on Sunday night.

This was Houston's latest preseason honor from the Basketball Hall of Fame. Earlier this week, senior point guard Milos Uzan was named to the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Top 20 Preseason Watch List, and senior guard Emanuel Sharp earned a place on the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award Top 20 Preseason Watch List.

The Julius Erving Award, named after the Class of 1993 Hall of Famer and 17-year professional, celebrates its 12^th year by recognizing the top small forward in Division I.

Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting in each of the three rounds starting on Friday. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2026 Julius Erving Award will be narrowed to 10, and then in late February, to just five.

In March, the five finalists will be presented to Erving and the Hall of Fame's selection committee, where winners will be selected.

The Selection Committee is composed of top college basketball personnel, including media members, head coaches, sports information directors, and Hall of Famers.

The winner of the 2026 West Award will be presented on a to-be-determined date, along with the other four members of the Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Bob Cousy Award (Point Guard), Jerry West Award (Shooting Guard), Karl Malone Award (Power Forward) and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award (Center).

ABOUT ISIAH HARWELL
Harwell was a consensus 5-star recruit by Rivals, 247Sports, on3 and ESPN and was the No. 14 prospect nationally in the ESPN100. He was ranked among the nation's Top Three shooting guards by all four scouting organizations and stood as the #9 overall prospect by Rivals.

As a senior in 2024-25, Harwell was recognized as the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Utah and led Wasatch Academy to 25-4 record and a berth at Chipotle Nationals after averaging 17.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.1 steals

He was a First-Team All-Nike EYBL Scholastic League honoree and was named to the McDonald's All-American Game, posting a team-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting – including 4-of-7 from the arc – with four rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals.

The Pocatello, Idaho, native was named the game's Most Valuable Player after scoring 19 points with six rebounds and three assists at Hoophall Classic and scored 19 points with seven assists in a win over Link Academy at that event.

As a junior during the 2023-24 season, Harwell drained a pair of free throws with less than three seconds remaining to lift Wasatch Academy to a 75-73 win over Columbus (Miami) at Holiday Hoopsgiving in Atlanta and finished with 15 points and four rebounds.

In July 2023, he led the Utah Prospects to the adidas AAU National Championship in South Carolina. Earlier that summer, he also led Team USA to the Gold Medal at the Under-16 FIBA Americas Championships in Merida, Mexico and played for the championship team at the NBPA Top 100 Camp.

Harwell was an All-State First-Team selection as a freshman at Century High School during the 2021-22 season. He averaged 18.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game while leading the Diamondbacks to the District Finals.

JULIUS ERVING SMALL FORWARD of the YEAR AWARD TOP 20 PRESEASON WATCH LIST

Player	School
Isiah Harwell	Houston
Karter Knox	Alabama
Tounde Yessoufou	Baylor
AJ Dybantsa	BYU
Dame Sarr	Duke
Andrej Stojakovic	Illinois
Tucker DeVries	Indiana
Milam Momcilovic	Iowa State
Coen Carr	Michigan State
Darrion Williams	NC State
Devin Royal	Ohio State
Derrio Reid	Oklahoma
Fletcher Loyer	Purdue
Miles Byrd	San Diego State
Nate Ament	Tennessee
Dailyn Swain	Texas
LeJuan Watts	Texas Tech
Eric Dailey Jr.	UCLA
Braylon Mullins	UConn
Chad Baker Mazara	USC

UP NEXT
Harwell and the Cougars begin their 2025-26 regular-season schedule when they play host to Lehigh at 7 p.m., Monday, inside Fertitta Center. Houston will unveil its 2024-25 NCAA Final Four banner on the Fertitta Center concourse during a pregame ceremony, and Sampson looks to make history as he goes for the 800^th win of his career.

Single-game home tickets for all games inside Fertitta Center are now on sale, and fans are encouraged to purchase quickly while supplies last. The two-time defending Big 12 Conference Champions, Houston will play host to 16 home games inside Fertitta Center with seven in non-conference play and nine in Big 12 action in 2025-26.

Fans can purchase single-game tickets by clicking here.

Fans interested in purchasing group tickets may complete this form to be contacted by a member of the Houston Athletics Tickets Sales staff.

BUY SEASON TICKETS
Non-season ticket holders interested in purchasing season tickets are invited to place their names on the Season Ticket Wait List by clicking here.

ABOUT the COUGARS
Houston returns three starters and seven lettermen in 2025-26.

The Cougars will be boosted with the addition one of the nation's top recruiting classes with Harwell, freshman forward Chris Cenac Jr., freshman point guard Kingston Flemings, freshman guard Bryce Jackson and senior forward Kalifa Sakho.

In 2024-25, the Cougars set a school single-season record with 35 wins and advanced to the NCAA Tournament National Championship Game inside Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Houston, which finished #2 in both national polls, won 31 of its final 33 games to end the season and advanced to the NCAA Final Four for the seventh time in program history – and the second time under Sampson – with a resounding 69-50 win over #6/6 (2) Tennessee during the NCAA Elite Eight in Indianapolis on March 30.

The Cougars swept the Big 12 regular-season and tournament championships in their second year in the league and set school and league records with a 19-1 mark in conference games. Houston became the first school to join a major conference and win the regular-season title in each of its first two years in the league in more than 100 years.

Houston posted a perfect 10-0 record in road games in Big 12 play, becoming the first program in NCAA Division I history to accomplish that feat in a season, and enter the 2025-26 season with the nation's longest active road winning streak at 14 straight games.

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STAY CONNECTED
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