Chambana Sun

Andrej Stojakovic, a junior at the University of Illinois, has been named one of 20 candidates on the watch list for the 2026 Julius Erving Award. The announcement was made by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Julius Erving Award, now in its twelfth year, honors the top small forwards in Division I men's college basketball. It is named after Julius Erving, a member of the Class of 1993 Hall of Fame and a professional basketball player with a 17-year career.

Stojakovic transferred to Illinois after playing his sophomore season at California, where he was the sixth-leading scorer in the ACC. He averaged 17.9 points per game last season, along with 4.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists. He also led Cal in blocks with an average of 1.2 per game and scored in double figures in 25 out of 29 games, including thirteen games with more than twenty points. Stojakovic was selected for the ACC All-Tournament First Team after averaging thirty-three points on fifty-seven percent shooting during two postseason games. His highest-scoring performance came against Stanford with thirty-seven points.

The list of candidates for this year's award includes players from programs such as Arkansas, Baylor, Duke, Houston, Indiana, Iowa State, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Tennessee, Texas Tech, UCLA, UConn and USC among others. Players can be added or removed from consideration throughout the season.

In addition to announcing candidates for the men's award, twenty watch-list candidates were also named for the Cheryl Miller Award recognizing top small forwards in NCAA Division I women's basketball.

Fan voting will begin on Friday October 31 and continue through three rounds as both lists are narrowed: first to ten players in late January and then to five finalists in late February. In March these finalists will be reviewed by selection committees that include media members as well as coaches and Hall of Famers before winners are chosen.

Winners will be announced alongside recipients of other positional awards such as point guard (Bob Cousy/Nancy Lieberman), shooting guard (Jerry West/Ann Meyers Drysdale), power forward (Karl Malone/Katrina McClain) and center (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar/Lisa Leslie). Past winners include Cooper Flagg (Duke), Dalton Knecht (Tennessee), Jalen Wilson (Kansas) and Wendell Moore Jr. (Duke).

For more information about this year’s awards or updates on nominees visit hoophallawards.com or follow @hoophallu on social media platforms X and Instagram using #ErvingAward or #MillerAward.