Evan Mobley Named Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Semifinalist
USC freshman Evan Mobley has been named a semifinalist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award which is given out annually to the top center in men's college basketball, it was announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame today (Jan. 29). This list, determined by a national committee, will be narrowed down to five finalist in late February and the winner will be presented on April 9, 2021.
Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies will start on Friday, January 29. Here fans will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite players. The top 5 player selections on the fan vote will get an additional vote towards making the next round.
Mobley is averaging 16.4 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game for the Trojans. The 7-foot freshman's 47 total blocks rank fourth on USC's all-time freshman shots blocked list and are fifth-most in the country this season, tops among freshmen. Mobley leads all Pac-12 players with 142 rebounds and his 47 blocks. Mobley also ranks seventh in scoring among conference players and fifth in field goal percentage (57.8 percent). Mobley leads all Pac-12 players with seven double-doubles and his total is tied for ninth among all Division I men's basketball players.
Mobley just keeps adding on to his 2020-21 accolades which include being named to the Wooden Award Midseason Watch List, the 2021 NABC Player of the Year Watch List, the 2021 Naismith Trophy Watch List, a finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award Watch List, being named to the 2020-21 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Preseason Media All-Conference First Team and being a four-time selection as Pac-12 Freshman of the Week.
Previous winners of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award include Luka Garza, Iowa (2020), Ethan Happ, Wisconsin (2019), Angel Delgado, Seton Hall (2018), Przemek Karnowski, Gonzaga (2017), Jakob Poeltl, Utah (2016) and Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin (2015).
For more information on the 2021 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the latest updates, log onto www.hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophall and #KareemAward on Twitter and Instagram. Starting Five Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies will go live today, January 29.