Courtesy of BucknellBison.com
LEWISBURG, Pa. — Bucknell senior center Nana Foulland is one of 40 men’s basketball student-athletes named to the watch list for the Lute Olson National Player of the Year Award. The Lute Olson Award is presented annually to the nation’s top Division I player who has played at least two seasons.
Lute Olson won 780 games in 34 seasons, 24 of which were spent at the University of Arizona. During that stretch he led the Wildcats to 11 Pac-10 Conference titles, 23 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, four Final Four appearances and a National Championship in 1997. The 2017-18 Lute Olson National Player of the Year Award will be announced on March 31, 2018 at the CollegeInsider.com Awards Event in San Antonio, site of the men’s NCAA Basketball Championship.
After earning Patriot League Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors last season, Foulland was picked as the 2017-18 Preseason Player of the Year. Last month he was listed as one of 21 candidates for the Karl Malone Award.
Foulland averaged 15.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots per game last season. He led the Patriot League and ranked 36th nationally in blocks, and he also ranked second in the league in rebounding and fourth in scoring. An NABC All-District 13 First Team selection, Foulland had a huge postseason performance for the Bison. He had 18 points in the Patriot League semifinals against Navy, 17 in the championship game win over Lehigh, and 18 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in the NCAA Tournament against West Virginia. Foulland made 25 of 37 (.676) shots from the field in four postseason games. His 63.0 field-goal percentage for the full season was third-best in school history.
Bucknell has captured six of the last seven outright Patriot League regular-season titles, and the Bison made their seventh NCAA Tournament appearance last season, falling 86-80 to West Virginia in the first round. Foulland is one of five returning starters from last year’s squad that finished 26-9 overall and 15-3 in the Patriot League.
The Bison open the 2017-18 season this Friday at Monmouth at 8:30 p.m.
2017-18 LUTE OLSON PRESEASON WATCH LIST
| Jalen Adams | 6-3 | Jr. | Connecticut |
| Deng Adel | 6-7 | Jr. | Louisville |
| Peyton Aldridge | 6-8 | Sr. | Davidson |
| Grayson Allen | 6-5 | Sr. | Duke |
| Joel Berry II | 6-0 | Sr. | North Carolina |
| Trevon Bluiett | 6-6 | Sr. | Xavier |
| Miles Bridges | 6-7 | So. | Michigan State |
| Bruce Brown Jr. | 6-5 | So. | Miami |
| Jalen Brunson | 6-3 | Jr. | Villanova |
| Jevon Carter | 6-2 | Sr. | West Virginia |
| Joe Chealey | 6-4 | Sr. | Charleston |
| Gary Clark | 6-8 | Sr. | Cincinnati |
| Chris Clemons | 5-9 | Jr. | Campbell |
| Bonzie Colson | 6-6 | Sr. | Notre Dame |
| Mike Daum | 6-9 | Jr. | South Dakota State |
| Tyler Davis | 6-10 | Jr. | Texas A&M |
| Angel Delgado | 6-10 | Sr. | Seton Hall |
| Shannon Evans II | 6-2 | Sr. | Arizona State |
| Marcus Foster | 6-0 | Sr. | Creighton |
| Nana Foulland | 6-9 | Sr. | Bucknell |
| Devonte Graham | 6-2 | Sr. | Kansas |
| Tyler Hall | 6-4 | Jr. | Montana State |
| Ethan Happ | 6-10 | Jr. | Wisconsin |
| Kevin Hervey | 6-9 | Sr. | UT Arlington |
| Aaron Holiday | 6-1 | Jr. | UCLA |
| Ben Lammers | 6-10 | Sr. | Georgia Tech |
| Jock Landale | 6-11 | Jr. | Saint Mary’s |
| Kelan Martin | 6-7 | Sr. | Butler |
| Yante Maten | 6-8 | Sr. | Georgia |
| E.C. Matthews | 6-5 | Sr. | Rhode Island |
| Jordan McLaughlin | 6-1 | Sr. | USC |
| Chimezie Metu | 6-11 | Jr. | USC |
| Shake Milton | 6-6 | Jr. | SMU |
| Chima Moneke | 6-6 | Sr. | UC Davis |
| Landry Shamet | 6-4 | So. | Wichita State |
| D’Marcus Simmonds | 6-3 | So. | Georgia State |
| MaCio Teague | 6-3 | So. | UNC Asheville |
| Reid Travis | 6-8 | Jr. | Stanford |
| Allonzo Trier | 6-5 | Jr. | Arizona |
| Robert Williams | 6-10 | So. | Texas A&M |
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