SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – UCF center Tacko Fall has been named to the Watch List for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced today.
Fall rounds out a group of nine American Athletic Conference players added to positional award watch lists this week. The center joins Gary Clark and Obi Enechionyia (Karl Malone Award), join Shake Milton, Jalen Adams, Landry Shamet (Bob Cousy Award), Rob Gray (Jerry West Award) and Jacob Evans and Markis McDuffie (Julius Erving Award).
“Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s talent and accolades are unparalleled when it comes to centers in college basketball,” said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Basketball Hall of Fame. “With the legacy he built at UCLA and then as a professional, is it only fitting that we honor the top collegiate centers with an award bearing his name.”
Fall was the 2017 American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year and a Lefty Driesell Defensive All-American after averaging 9.5 rebounds per game and blocking a UCF single-season record 94 shots as a sophomore.
He shot 71.5 percent from the field, scoring in double figures 19 times and was second in The American with 12 double-doubles. Earlier this week, Fall was named Preseason American Athletic Conference Second Team All-Conference.
Of last year's final 10 honorees, only four return for the 2017-18 season. Fall is joined by Wisconsin's Ethan Happ, UCLA's Thomas Welsh and Saint Mary's Jock Landale.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played for legendary coach and Hall of Famer John Wooden at the University of California, Los Angeles from 1966-1969. He is a three-time NCAA Champion who earned numerous accolades including three-time Final Four Most Outstanding Player, three-time National College Player of the Year and three-time Consensus First-Team All-American (1967-1969).
“I would like to thank the Basketball Hall of Fame for the honor of being the namesake of this award,” said Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a 1995 inductee of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and six-time NBA Champion. “The student-athletes recognized have worked tirelessly to earn their spots on this list and I look forward to seeing how their hard work will pay off this season.”
By mid-February, the watch list of 20 players for the 2018 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award will be narrowed down to just 10. In March, five finalists will be presented to Mr. Abdul-Jabbar and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee. The winner of the 2018 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award will be presented at the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show presented by Wendy’s in Los Angeles, CA on Friday, April 6, 2018. Broadcast information will be released at a later date.
Previous winners of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award include Przemek Karnowski, Gonzaga (2017), Jakob Poeltl, Utah (2016) and Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin (2015). For more information on the 2018 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, log onto
www.HoophallAwards.com.
2018 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award Candidates
| Dusan Ristic |
Arizona |
| Austin Wiley |
Auburn |
| Kingsley Okoroh |
California |
| Tacko Fall |
UCF |
| Marques Bolden |
Duke |
| John Egbunu |
Florida |
| Jessie Govan |
Georgetown |
| Ben Lammers |
Georgia Tech |
| Nick Richards |
Kentucky |
| Omer Yurtseven |
NC State |
| Isaac Haas |
Purdue |
| Jock Landale |
Saint Mary's |
| Angel Delgado |
Seton Hall |
| Michael Humphrey |
Stanford |
| Vladimir Brodziansky |
TCU |
| Mohamed Bamba |
Texas |
| Tyler Davis |
Texas A&M |
| Thomas Welsh |
UCLA |
| Chimezie Metu |
USC |
| Ethan Happ |
Wisconsin |