IU is the third highest ranked Big Ten team in the poll oof five conference schools.
The Hoosiers meet those conference teams five times this season and possibly meet four of the other schools, including No. 7 Duke in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge and No. 20 Notre Dame in the Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis.
In addition to CBS’ preseason poll announcement, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced several watch lists for national awards, which included three Hoosiers for three individual awards on each list of 20 players.
Ferrell was included in the list of 20 point guards for the 2016 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award, which is presented by the College of the Holy Cross at the end of the season. The senior was named a preseason All-American, and CBS ranked him as the 20th best player in the country. Ferrell averaged 16.3 points and 4.9 assists as a junior last season.
Junior forward Troy Williams was named to the 2016 Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award watch list after averaging 13.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, which ranked third in the conference in 2014-15. In addition to Ferrell, Williams was ranked in CBS’ poll of top players in the country, coming in at 37th.
Sophomore guard James Blackmon Jr. was named to the watch list for the 2016 Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award for the season.
Taylor Lehman
