Breaking News: UNC’s RJ Davis Wins 2025 Jerry West Award as Nation’s Top Shooting Guard………….

Breaking News: UNC’s RJ Davis Wins 2025 Jerry West Award as Nation’s Top Shooting Guard………….

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina senior RJ Davis has been named the winner of the 2025 Jerry West Award, an annual honor given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top shooting guard in men’s college basketball. Davis capped off a historic final season with the Tar Heels, becoming the first UNC player ever to receive the award.

Davis, a dynamic 6-foot guard from White Plains, New York, was the driving force behind North Carolina’s return to national prominence. Averaging 21.2 points per game, Davis led the ACC in scoring and powered the Tar Heels to a regular-season conference championship and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. He finished the season with 784 total points—setting a new single-season scoring record for a UNC guard and ranking fourth all-time among Tar Heels for points in a season.

His season was highlighted by a number of clutch performances, including a 42-point explosion against Miami on February 26, which broke the scoring record for the Dean E. Smith Center. Davis also set a school record with 113 made three-pointers during the 2024–25 campaign, surpassing the previous mark set by Justin Jackson in 2017. He hit multiple threes in 32 of the team’s 37 games and made at least one three-pointer in all but one game.

Beyond his shooting, Davis showed tremendous leadership and consistency throughout the year. He earned consensus First-Team All-American honors and was named ACC Player of the Year. He was also a finalist for the Wooden Award and the Naismith Trophy, further cementing his status as one of the top players in the country.

The Jerry West Award, established in 2015, honors the best shooting guard in college basketball each year and is named after the legendary NBA Hall of Famer. Previous winners include Marcus Sasser (Houston), Johnny Davis (Wisconsin), and RJ Barrett (Duke). Davis’s win adds to North Carolina’s proud basketball tradition and highlights his place among the program’s all-time greats.

Over his four-year career at UNC, Davis climbed the record books with 2,088 career points—fifth-most in Tar Heel history. He also ranks second in career three-pointers made (274) and first in free throw percentage (.858). He led UNC in scoring 26 times during the season and posted double figures in 33 of 37 games.

Davis’s decision to return for a final season proved to be a wise one, both for him and for the Tar Heels. His maturity, poise, and clutch shooting helped galvanize a team that rebounded from early tournament exits in prior years to contend deep into March. His impact was not only measured in points but in the leadership and culture he helped build within the program.

With the 2025 Jerry West Award now added to his résumé, RJ Davis exits Chapel Hill as a Tar Heel legend—and one of the premier shooting guards in college basketball history.