Gophers’ Battle named to Julius Erving Award watch list

University of Minnesota men’s basketball forward Jamison Battle has been named to a watch list for the best small forwards in college basketball.

Wednesday, the program announced Jamison Battle is among those on the Julius Erving Award top-20 watch list.

Battle, a junior, joined the Gophers last season after spending two years at George Washington University. In his first season with Minnesota, he averaged 17.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game and was named an Honorable Mention All-Big Ten selection.

This year, he was named a Preseason All-Big Ten player.

Fan voting for the watch list opens on Friday, with the top 10 players getting an additional vote toward advancing to the next round. The list will then be trimmed to 10 in January and five the following month before the winner is selected at a still-to-be-determined time.

Minnesota opens its season with an exhibition game against St. Olaf on Nov. 2 before the Nov. 7 season-opener against Western Michigan.