University of Louisville guard Carlik Jones was named as the Most Valuable Player of the Wade Houston Tipoff Classic, a season-opening multi-team event played in Louisville’s KFC Yum! Center.
Jones is off to a terrific start to the season. He is the only player in the ACC to rank among the top 15 in scoring (11th in the ACC, 17.3 ppg), rebounding (15th, 7.0) and assists (7th, 5.3). The preseason All-America selection is eighth in the nation in career assists among active players with 490 (21 at Louisville, 469 at Radford) and is 12th nationally among active career scorers with 1,621 points (69 at UofL, 1,552 at Radford) through Dec. 3. The graduate transfer has 87 career double-figure scoring efforts, including the last 27 consecutive games.
The 10-person all-tournament team that featured individuals from all eight participating teams also included two additional Cardinals in sophomore David Johnson and freshman Dre Davis. The remainder of the honorees are DJ Burns, Jr., Winthrop; Marcus Weathers, Duquesne; Noah Federking, Evansville; Sandro Mamukelashvili, Seton Hall; Isaiah Miller, UNC Greensboro; Markwuis Nowell, Little Rock; and Faite Williams, Prairie View A&M.
Johnson is averaging 12.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists (eighth in the ACC) through four games. He totaled 17 points, six rebounds, a career-high matching eight assists and a career-high four steals in his last game against Western Kentucky.
Davis is the Cardinals’ second-leading scorer (12.3 ppg) while connecting on 55.2 percent of his field goals, adding 4.0 rebounds per game and a team-high four blocked shots. His career-high 21 points against Western Kentucky in his last game is the most scored by a Cardinal this season. Coupled with the 20 points and nine rebounds that redshirt freshman Jae’Lyn Withers scored in the previous game against Prairie View A&M, it marks only the fourth team in Louisville history to include two freshmen who have scored 20 or more points in a game during a season.
The final two games of the Louisville event on Friday were cancelled due to COVID-19 issues.
2020 Wade Houston Tipoff Classic All-Tournament Team
MVP – Carlik Jones, Louisville
DJ Burns, Jr., Winthrop
Dre Davis, Louisville
Marcus Weathers, Duquesne
Noah Federking, Evansville
David Johnson, Louisville
Sandro Mamukelashvili, Seton Hall
Isaiah Miller, UNC Greensboro
Markwuis Nowell, Little Rock
Faite Williams, Prairie View A&M
