The University said Thursday that Harrison Barnes, John Henson and Kendall Marshall will enter the 2012 NBA draft.
The school didn’t state whether the three sophomores planned to hire agents or not, or if they already had, in its press release announcing the departures, though it appears they’re in the draft to stay.
On the same day, Marshall won….
the winner of the 2012 Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award. This annual honor is given to college basketball’s top point guard and is named after Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtics guard Bob Cousy. An original list, consisting of 60-plus candidates from around the country, was trimmed by a Hall of Fame appointed, nationally based committee to 20, down to 11 and a final five before voting on the winner of one of college basketball’s most prestigious awards.
Marshall, a sophomore, commanded the Tar Heels to a No. 4 national ranking and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament this season. He led the nation in assists and assist-error ratio and was second in assists per game. Prior to fracturing his right wrist in the third round of the NCAA Tournament, he finished the season with an ACC record 351 assists, the fourth-most in NCAA single-season history. Marshall also became Carolina’s all-time leader in assist average with 7.96 per game and the ACC’s career leader in assist-error ratio at 3.01.
He set an ACC single-season record with 17 double-figure assist games, holds five of UNC’s top eight all-time single-game assist totals and set an ACC Tournament record with 31 assists in three games. He also earned first-team All-America honors from CBSSports.com and was named a second-team All-ACC selection.
The other 2012 finalists included Isaiah Canaan (Murray State), Matthew Dellavedova (Saint Mary’s), Damian Lillard (Weber State) and Tyshawn Taylor (Kansas).
Previous Winners of the Bob Cousy Award
2004 – Jameer Nelson – St. Joseph’s
2005 – Raymond Felton – North Carolina
2006 – Dee Brown – Illinois
2007 – Acie Law – Texas A&M
2008 – D.J. Augustin – Texas
2009 – Ty Lawson – North Carolina
2010 – Greivis Vasquez – Maryland
2011 – Kemba Walker – Connecticut