Published Apr 5, 2025
Tennessee basketball's Chaz Lanier wins Jerry West Award
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Ryan Sylvia  •  VolReport
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Tennessee basketball guard Chaz Lanier has won one of the top awards in college basketball.

Following his lone season with the Vols, he was awarded the Jerry West Award, given to the top shooting guard in the country.

The award is named after the late Class of 1980 Hall of Famer and 1959 NCAA Final Four Most Valuable Player, Jerry West.

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"I want to start by thanking the West family and the selection committee for naming me the recipient of this incredible distinction," Lanier said following winning the award. "It is a true privilege to win the Jerry West Award and I am deeply honored. I would not be in this position without God and the support of my family, my coaches, my teammates and the fans. Representing the University of Tennessee this year has been special and this accolade is not just about me, but about all of us who contributed to such an awesome season."

Lanier earned the award over Baylor's V.J. Edgecombe, Memphis' P.J. Haggerty, Texas' Tre Johnson and Arizona's Caleb Love.

Awards are given to all five positions, honoring the best player at the spot. Tennessee's Dalton Knecht earned the Julius Erving Award a year ago.

Other award winners this year were Purdue's Braden Smith, Duke's Cooper Flagg, Auburn's Johni Broome and Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner.

The awards have been handed out since the 2015 season. Previous winners are North Carolina's R.J. Davis (2023-24), Houston's Marcus Sasser (2022-23), Wisconsin's Johnny Davis (2021-22), Oregon's Chris Duarte (2020-21), Seton Hall's Myles Powell (2019-20), Duke's R.J. Barrett (2018-19), Purdue's Carsen Edwards (2017-18), Kentucky's Malik Monk (2016-17), Oklahoma's Buddy Hield (2015-16) and Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell (2014-15).

This season, Lanier averaged 18.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. He notched the school record of 123 made 3-pointers, which is the sixth-highest single-season total in SEC history.

The Vols went 30-8 on the year and 12-6 in SEC play. Tennessee made a trip to the SEC Tournament title game and the Elite Eight before falling to Houston.

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