Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award
Awarded forThe nation's top male center in NCAA Division I basketball
CountryUnited States
Presented byNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
History
First award2015
Most recentZach Edey, Purdue
Websitehttp://www.hoophallawards.com

The Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top men's collegiate center. Following the success of the Bob Cousy Award which had been awarded since 2004, the award was one of four new awards (along with the Jerry West Award, Julius Erving Award and Karl Malone Award) created as part of the inaugural College Basketball Awards show in 2015.[1] It is named after three-time NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Champion, three-time NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player, and three-time National Player of the Year Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.[2] The inaugural winner was Frank Kaminsky.[3]

Luka Garza of Iowa is the only player to repeat as recipient of the award.

Winners

Luka Garza of Iowa is the only two-time winner of the award.
* Awarded a National Player of the Year award:
the Naismith College Player of the Year or the John R. Wooden Award
Player (X) Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award
Season Player School Class Ref
2014–15 Frank Kaminsky* Wisconsin Senior
2015–16 Jakob Pöltl Utah Sophomore
2016–17 Przemek Karnowski Gonzaga Senior
2017–18 Ángel Delgado Seton Hall Senior [4]
2018–19 Ethan Happ Wisconsin Senior [5]
2019–20 Luka Garza Iowa Junior
2020–21 Luka Garza* (2) Iowa Senior
2021–22 Oscar Tshiebwe* Kentucky Junior
2022–23 Zach Edey* Purdue Junior

Winners by school

School Winners Years
Iowa 2 2020, 2021
Wisconsin 2 2015, 2019
Gonzaga 1 2017
Kentucky 1 2022
Purdue 1 2023
Seton Hall 1 2018
Utah 1 2016

References

  1. ^ "New College Basketball Awards Show to Honor the Season's Top Players April 10 on ESPN2". Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. February 12, 2015. Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  2. ^ "Fifteen Candidates Announced for First-Ever Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award". Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. February 16, 2015. Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  3. ^ "Wisconsin's Kaminsky wins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar award as best center". FOX Sports. Associated Press. April 10, 2015. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  4. ^ Pascoe, Bruce (April 7, 2018). "Arizona's Ayton Wins Karl Malone Award". Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. p. B004 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Zion completes '19 awards sweep with Wooden". ESPN.com. April 12, 2019. Retrieved April 13, 2019.

External links

U.S. men's college basketball awards
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award winners
Categories