San Diego State Basketball: Winston Shepard named on the Naismith Trophy watch list

San Diego State junior forward Winston Shepard is one of 50 college basketball players named on the Naismith Trophy watch list, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced today.

Shepard is the third Aztec since 2010-11 to be named to this list. Kawhi Leonard saw his name on the list in 2010-11 and Jamaal Franklin was named to the list in 2012-13. Xavier Thames made the 30-person midseason Naismith Trophy watch list last year.

Shepard is playing his best season at SDSU, leading the team with 11.8 points per game on 45 percent shooting. He's also second on the team with 5.5 rebounds per game and a 72 percent clip from the charity stripe.

UNLV's Rashad Vaughn is also on the watch list. Vaughn is averaging 17.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. He's also making one out of every three 3-pointers he shoots.

There aren't many surprises on this list, which features names like Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky, North Carolina's Marcus Paige and Arizona's Stanley Johnson. Kansas, Arizona and Kentucky all have three players on the list.

This list will have 20 fewer names on Feb. 12 when the midseason watch list is released.