WACO, Texas - Baylor junior power forward Rico Gathers has been named to the Naismith Trophy Men's Midseason 30, presented by AT&T on Thursday. The Naismith Award is presented annually to the men's college player of the year who achieves great success on the court.

Gathers is one of five Big 12 Conference players among the Midseason 30, joining Oklahoma's Buddy Hield, Oklahoma State's Le'Bryan Nash, Iowa State's Georges Niang and West Virginia's Juwan Staten. Gathers is the only player from a college in Texas on the Midseason 30.

A LaPlace, La., native, Gathers is averaging a double-double with 11.2 points and 12.6 rebounds in 29.3 minutes per game while starting all 24 games for Baylor this season. He leads the nation with 303 rebounds this season, ranks second nationally with 5.5 offensive rebounds per game and leads the Big 12 and ranks 13th nationally with 13 double-doubles.

He set Big 12 and Baylor records with 28 rebounds in a game on Jan. 21, which were the most by a Division I player since Louisiana Tech's Paul Millsap in 2006. His 303 rebounds this season are 114 more than any other Big 12 player, his 132 offensive rebounds lead the league by 58, and his 13 double-doubles are six more than any other player in the conference.

The Naismith Award will announce 10 semifinalists on March 6 and four finalists on March 22, and the award winner will be announced April 5.

Gathers was one of just seven players to make the Midseason 30 after missing out on the 50-member watch list that was announced Dec. 3. The others were Virginia's Justin Anderson, Syracuse's Rakeem Christmas, Oklahoma State's Le'Bryan Nash, Arkansas' Bobby Portis, Northern Iowa's Seth Tuttle and Gonzaga's Kyle Wiltjer.

No. 16 Baylor returns to action at noon CT Saturday when the Bears take on No. 8 Kansas in Lawrence. The game will be televised nationally on CBS.

2015 Naismith Trophy Men's Midseason 30
Justin Anderson - Virginia
Ron Baker - Wichita State
Ryan Boatright - Connecticut
Malcolm Brogdon - Virginia
Willie Cauley-Stein - Kentucky
Rakeem Christmas - Syracuse
Rico Gathers - Baylor
Treveon Graham - VCU
Jerian Grant - Notre Dame
Montrezl Harrell - Louisville
Tyler Haws - BYU
Buddy Hield - Oklahoma
Stanley Johnson - Arizona
Tyus Jones - Duke
Frank Kaminsky - Wisconsin
Jordan Mickey - LSU
Le'Bryan Nash - Oklahoma State
Georges Niang - Iowa State
Jahlil Okafor - Duke
Marcus Paige - North Carolina
Kevin Pangos - Gonzaga
Bobby Portis - Arkansas
Chasson Randle - Stanford
Terry Rozier - Louisville
D'Angelo Russell - Ohio State
Juwan Staten - West Virginia
Karl-Anthony Towns - Kentucky
Seth Tuttle - Northern Iowa
Kyle Wiltjer - Gonzaga
Delon Wright - Utah