Sanogo Among 5 Finalists For Abdul-Jabbar Center Of The Year Award
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (March 4, 2022) – UConn sophomore Adama Sanogo has been named as one of five finalists for the 2022 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award, announced on Friday by Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Sanogo is joined on the Center of the Year finalist list by Walker Kessler of Auburn, Drew Timme of Gonzaga, Kofi Cockburn of Illinois and Oscar Tshiebwe of Kentucky.
The annual award, in its eighth season, recognizes the top centers in men’s college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates in November, which was narrowed to 10 in late January and now just five finalists. The five finalists will be presented to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar himself as well as a Hall of Fame selection committee. The award winner will be determined by a combination of fan votes and input from the Hall of Fame’s selection committee. Naismith Starting Five Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, will go live today (March 4).
Here is the link for the fan vote: http://www.hoophallawards.com/men/vote.php
Sanogo, a 6-9 sophomore from Bamako, Mali, is the second-leading scorer (14.8) and leading rebounder (8.4) for the 18th-ranked Huskies (21-8). In BIG EAST games, he is the top rebounder in the conference (9.6), the top offensive rebounder in the conference (3.9), is second in field goal percentage (.500), fourth in blocked shots (2.3) and is 10th in scoring (14.5).
Sanogo has led UConn in scoring in 10 games this season, including a team-high game of 30 points against Auburn, and has led the team in rebounding in 10 games, including a team-high of 18 rebounds against St. John’s.
Sanogo, who has 19 double-figure scoring games and seven double-doubles this season, has been named the BIG EAST Player of the Week twice this season and has also been named to the league’s Weekly Honor Roll twice.
The legendary Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, a six-time NBA Champion, six-time NBA Most Valuable Player, two-time NBA Finals MVP and a19-time NBA All-Star. As a collegiate player at UCLA (1966-69), he was 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).
Previous winners of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award include two-time winner Luka Garza, Iowa (2020-21), Ethan Happ, Wisconsin (2019), Angel Delgado, Seton Hall (2018), Przemek Karnowski, Gonzaga (2017), Jakob Poeltl, Utah (2016) and Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin (2015).
“Kareen Abdul-Jabbar is widely regarded as the best college basketball player of all time,” said John L. Doleva, president and CEO of the Basketball Hall of Fame. “To be acknowledged as a finalist for an award the bears his name is a phenomenal achievement and these student-athletes should be celebrated.”
For more information on the 2022 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award and the latest updates, log onto www.hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophall and #KareemAward on Twitter and Instagram.
