Kansas guards Frank Mason III and Devonte Graham lip sync the words to Let

One day away from their season opener in paradise against No. 11 Indiana, the Kansas men’s basketball team learned that three players, Frank Mason III, Devonte’ Graham and Josh Jackson, have been named to the Naismith Award Watch List.

KU tied Duke, Wisconsin, Kentucky for the most representatives on the 50-player list.

Mason and Graham land on the list having earned all-Big 12 honors a season ago. Mason was a second-team all-conference pick for the second year in a row and Graham earned honorable mention status.

Graham and Mason also earned all-Big 12 defensive honors during the 2015-16 season.

Jackson, the 6-foot-8 freshman from Detroit by way of Prolific Prep in Napa, California, will join the returning starters in the Kansas backcourt, giving the Jayhawks what many analysts are calling one of the top backcourts in the country entering the 2016-17 season.

Jackson was voted the 2016-17 Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year, while Graham and Mason were preseason all-Big 12 picks.

The following list will be narrowed to 30 candidates for the Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year will be released in early February.

Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year Watch List

Bam Adebayo, Kentucky

Grayson Allen, Duke

Jarrett Allen, Texas

Dwayne Bacon, Florida State

Lonzo Ball, UCLA

V.J. Beachem, Notre Dame

Joel Berry II, North Carolina

James Blackmon Jr., Indiana

Jaron Blossomgame, Clemson

Trevon Bluiett, Xavier

Chris Boucher, Oregon

Miles Bridges, Michigan State

Dillon Brooks, Oregon

Thomas Bryant, Indiana

Troy Caupain, Cincinnati

Tyler Davis, Texas A&M

Jawun Evans, Oklahoma State

De’Aaron Fox, Kentucky

Markelle Fultz, Washington

Jack Gibbs, Davidson

Harry Giles, Duke

Devonte’ Graham, Kansas

Ethan Happ, Wisconsin

Josh Hart, Villanova

Nigel Hayes, Wisconsin

Malcolm Hill, Illinois

Josh Jackson, Kansas

Justin Jackson, North Carolina

Kris Jenkins, Villanova

Peter Jok, Iowa

Moses Kingsley, Arkansas

Bronson Koenig, Wisconsin

Dedric Lawson, Memphis

Tyler Lydon, Syracuse

Lauri Markkanen, Arizona

Frank Mason III, Kansas

E.C. Matthews, Rhode Island

Malik Monk, Kentucky

Monte Morris, Iowa State

Jonathan Motley, Baylor

Austin Nichols, Virginia

London Perrantes, Virginia

Alec Peters, Valparaiso

Ivan Rabb, California

Dennis Smith Jr., NC State

Edmond Sumner, Xavier

Caleb Swanigan, Purdue

Jayson Tatum, Duke

Melo Trimble, Maryland

Nigel Williams-Goss, Gonzaga