Lykes named to watch list for top national college player Monday

Arkansas’ Chris Lykes was one of 50 players named to the Naismith Trophy Watch List, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Monday.

Lykes is in his first season with the Razorbacks after being a part of the Miami Hurricanes the previous four seasons. He has also received other national preseason recognition, such as:

• The No. 20 returning player in college basketball (Andy Katz – March Madness).

• Named No. 51 on CBSSports.com Top 100 and 1 Best College Basketball Players entering 2021-22.

• One of 30 impact transfers (Jon Rothstein – College Hoops Today).

Lykes only played two games last season before suffering a season-ending injury. Prior to the injury, he was tabbed first team preseason All-ACC.

The previous two seasons, he led the team — and ranked among the ACC top 10 — in scoring as he averaged 15.4 points (10th in the ACC) as a junior (2019-20) and 16.2 points (ninth in the ACC) as a sophomore (2018-19). In three-plus seasons with the Hurricanes, Lykes scored 1,256 points with 251 assists and 100 steals.

Arkansas will open the 2021-22 season on Tuesday (Nov. 9) by hosting the Mercer Bears at 7 p.m.

Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.