LOS ANGELES –  Gonzaga's Rui Hachimura is a finalist for the Julius Erving Award and will be at the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show at the Novo Theater Friday.
 
The 2018-19 college basketball season will officially conclude with the College Basketball Awards Presented by Wendy's, live at 5 p.m., on ESPN2. The 90-minute show, taking place at The Novo by Microsoft in downtown Los Angeles, will feature the John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy's (Player of the Year – Men), John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy's (Player of the Year – Women) and John R. Wooden Award (Legends of Coaching), as well as five Basketball Hall of Fame positional awards – the Bob Cousy Award (Point Guard of the Year), Jerry West Award (Shooting Guard of the Year), Julius Erving Award Presented by Daltile (Small Forward of the Year), Karl Malone Award (Power Forward of the Year) and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award (Center of the Year).
 
Host Maria Taylor, with analysts Jay Williams and Chiney Ogwumike will interview winners, present awards and look back at some of the season's best moments. The show will feature a fast-draw voiced by college basketball analyst Sean Farnham, as well as player highlight packages of each of the finalists for the men's and women's Wooden Award. Boxing analysts Tim Bradley and Andrew Ward will also show some of the athletes how to throw a punch.
 
Hall of Fame players Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone and Jerry West will be on hand to present their respective awards. Sean Elliott, celebrating his 30th anniversary of winning the Wooden Award (1989) during his time at the University of Arizona, will also be on-hand to present this year's award.
 
The five finalists for the 2019 Julius Erving Award are Hachimura (Gonzaga), Marial Shayok (Iowa State), Caleb Martin (Nevada), Admiral Schofield (Tennessee) and De'Andre Hunter (Virginia).
 
Hachimura was the 2019 West Coast Conference Player of the Year and the USBWA District IX Player of the Year. He was named first team All-American by the NABC and the USBWA. He averaged 19.7 points per game this season, shooting 59.1 percent from the field. The junior added 6.5 rebounds per game and finished with 27 blocks this season. He made 63.5 percent of his shots from the field in conference play, which ranked fourth in the league.
 
Hachimura scored in double-digits in 35 of the Zags' 37 games this season, reaching 20 or more points 21 times. He had four double-doubles in 2018-19. The Toyama, Japan, native scored a career-high 33 points against Idaho State.
 
Julius Erving attended the University of Massachusetts and averaged 26.3 points and 20.2 rebounds per game, making him one of only six NCAA men's basketball players to average more than 20 points and 20 rebounds per game. After two seasons, Erving made the jump to the American Basketball Association and was the league's most recognizable player when it merged with the National Basketball Association in 1976. During his professional career, Erving won three championships, four most valuable player awards and three scoring titles. In 1996, he was named a member of the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team.
 
Previous winners of the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award include Mikal Bridges, Villanova (2018), Josh Hart, Villanova (2017), Denzel Valentine, Michigan State (2016) and Stanley Johnson, Arizona (2015).
 
For more information and the latest updates on the 2019 Julius Erving Award, log onto www.hoophallawards.com.