Donovan Dent Selected to Naismith Trophy Watch List
November 03, 2025 | Men's Basketball
ATLANTA โ UCLA senior Donovan Dent has been listed to the 50-man preseason watch list for the Naismith Trophy Men's Player of the Year award, as announced on Monday by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
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Dent, a 6-foot-2 guard from Riverside, Calif., transferred to UCLA in the summer of 2025 for his senior season. He secured honorable mention All-America acclaim as a junior at New Mexico last season, averaging team highs in scoring (20.4 ppg) and assists (6.4 apg). Last week, Dent was named to the preseason watch list for the NABC Division I Player of the Year award.
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Dent is among 13 top players from the Big Ten Conference to be named to the watch list for the 2025-26 Naismith Trophy.
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Through three collegiate seasons, Dent has averaged 13.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. Dent has shot 50.3 percent overall in his collegiate career, including 36.8 percent from 3-point range (46-for-125). Dent has scored at least 10 points in 67 games and has totaled 20 or more points in 27 games. In addition, he has registered at least 10 assists in seven career games โ four last year as a junior, and three in 2023-24 as a sophomore. Dent enters his senior season at UCLA having totaled seven career double-doubles, all of the point and assist variety.
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At the conclusion of the 2024-25 season, Dent was recognized as an honorable mention All-America selection by the Associated Press (AP). Last season, there were 28 college basketball players who earned All-America or honorable mention All-America honors in 2024-25. Six of those, including Dent, are returning to college in 2025-26 (All-America teams from the A.P., USBWA, NABC and Sporting News).
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In addition, Dent was listed last week as one of 20 student-athletes to the preseason watch list for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Watch List.
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2025-26 Naismith Trophy's Men's Watch List
Darius Acuff Jr. (freshman, guard) โ Arkansas
Nate Ament (freshman, forward) โ Tennessee
Robbie Avila (senior, center) โ St. Louis
Solo Ball (junior, guard) โ Oregon
Nate Bittle (senior, center) โ Oregon
John Blackwell (junior, guard) โ Wisconsin
Cameron Boozer (freshman, forward) โ Duke
Mikel Brown Jr. (freshman, guard) โ Louisville
Markus Burton (junior, guard) โ Notre Dame
Alex Condon (junior, forward/center) โ Florida
Ryan Conwell (senior, guard) โ Louisville
Donovan Dent (senior, guard) โ UCLA
Tucker DeVries (senior, forward) โ Indiana
Josh Dix (senior, guard) โ Creighton
A.J. Dybantsa (freshman, forward) โ BYU
Zuby Ejiofor (senior, forward) โ St. John's
Isaiah Evans (sophomore, guard/forward) โ Duke
Boogie Fland (sophomore, guard) โ Florida
Ja'Kobi Gillespie (senior, guard) โ Tennessee
P.J. Haggerty (junior, guard) โ Kansas State
Thomas Haugh (junior, forward) โ Florida
Bryce Hopkins (grad student, guard/forward) โ St. John's
Josh Hubbard (junior, guard) โ Mississippi State
Graham Ike (grad student, forward) โ Gonzaga
Tomislav Ivišic (junior, center) โ Illinois
Ian Jackson (sophomore, guard) โ St. John's
Alex Karaban (senior, forward) โ UConn
Trey Kaufman-Renn (senior, forward) โ Purdue
Xaivian Lee (senior, guard) โ Florida
Yaxel Lendeborg (grad student, forward) โ Michigan
Tamin Lipsey (senior, guard) โ Iowa State
Jaland Lowe (junior, guard) โ Kentucky
Nick Martinelli (senior, forward) โ Northwestern
Otega Oweh (senior, guard) โ Kentucky
Koa Peat (freshman, forward) โ Arizona
Darryn Peterson (freshman, guard) โ Kansas
Tahaad Pettiford (sophomore, guard) โ Auburn
Labaron Philon Jr. (sophomore, guard) โ Alabama
Richie Saunders (senior, forward) โ BYU
Emanuel Sharp (senior, guard) โ Houston
Jackson Shelstad (junior, guard) โ Oregon
Braden Smith (senior, guard) โ Purdue
Bennett Stirtz (senior, guard) โ Iowa
Andrej Stojakovic (junior, guard) โ Illinois
Bruce Thornton (senior, guard) โ Ohio State
JT Toppin (junior, forward) โ Texas Tech
Joseph Tugler (junior, forward) โ Houston
Milos Uzan (senior, guard) โ Houston
Darrion Williams (senior, forward) โ N.C. State
Caleb Wilson (freshman, forward) โ North Carolina
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