Oscar Tshiebwe makes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Watch List

Kentucky Wildcats superstar Oscar Tshiebwe has been named to the 2023 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Watch List.

Named after the Naismith Hall of Famer and all-time NBA scoring leader, the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award is in its ninth year and annually honors the best center in college basketball. Tshiebwe is one of 20 candidates on the list, including three from the SEC, the others being Alabama’s Charles Bediako and Florida’s Colin Castleton.

The defending National Player of the Year, Tshiebwe averaged a team-high 17.4 points and a nation-leading 15.1 rebounds per contest last season. He set a Kentucky single-season record with 28 double-doubles while becoming the first major conference player to average 15 points and 15 rebounds since UCLA’s Bill Walton in 1972-73.

Kentucky is one of three schools with five total players on the Naismith positional watch lists. Sahvir Wheeler was named to the Bob Cousy Award Watch List, while Antonio Reeves and Cason Wallace made the Jerry West Award Watch List, and Chris Livingston cracked the Julius Erving Award Watch List.

Fans may participate in voting in each of the three rounds for the Naismith awards. In late January, these lists will be trimmed to 10 players, then down to five in February.

Winners will be announced at a TBD date.