Ryan Kalkbrenner Named to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Watch List
10/28/2022 12:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Junior big man was named to Preseason All-BIG EAST Team
Springfield, Mass. (Oct. 28, 2022) — The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced that Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner is one of 20 candidates on the watch list for the 2023 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced today the 20 watch list members for the 2023 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award. Named after Class of 1995 Hall of Famer and three-time NCAA Champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the annual honor in its ninth year recognizes the top center in men's college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates.
"Rounding out the Men's Starting Five Watch List is the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award. The student-athletes on this list should feel tremendously proud of all they have accomplished to be associated with basketball's all-time leading scorer," said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Basketball Hall of Fame. "With his focus on both education and athletics, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's perspective is cherished by our committee when evaluating talent each year."
A junior from Florissant, Mo., Kalkbrenner averaged 13.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.6 blocked shots per game while starting CU's first 34 contests last season. He was an Honorable Mention All-BIG EAST choice, BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year and named to the All-BIG EAST Tournament Team while ranking fourth nationally in both field goal percentage (.646) and offensive rebounds per game (3.9). He was the lone Bluejay named Preseason First Team All-BIG EAST last week for ninth-ranked team in the nation, who are predicted to win the BIG EAST.
Kalkbrenner is Creighton's second player in the nine seasons of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award to be named to the watch list at any point, joining Justin Patton in 2016-17. Patton was on the preseason list of 20 and later made the cut down to 10 during his campaign that saw him earn BIG EAST Freshman of the Year accolades.
2023 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Candidates*
*Players can play their way onto and off the list at any point in the 2022-2023 season*
Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, in each of the three rounds starting today. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2023 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award will be narrowed to 10 and then in late February to just five. In March the five finalists will be presented to Abdul-Jabbar and the Hall of Fame's selection committee where a winner will be selected.
The winner of the 2023 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award will be presented on a to be determined date, along with the other four members of the Men's Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Bob Cousy Award (Point Guard), Jerry West Award (Shooting Guard), Julius Erving Award (Small Forward) and the Karl Malone Award (Power Forward), in addition to the Women's Starting Five.
On Monday, Kalkbrenner's teammate Ryan Nembhard earned a spot on the watch list for the Bob Cousy Award while on Wednesday it was announced that Baylor Scheierman is up for the Julius Erving Award. Yesterday, Arthur Kaluma landed on the watch list for the Karl Malone Award. Last week, Creighton's Emma Ronsiek landed on the Katrina McClain Award watch list as a candidate to be recognized as the nation's top power forward in women's basketball.
Creighton (4) is one of six schools with four or more men's basketball players on a watch list, joining Duke (5), Kentucky (5), Arizona (4), Gonzaga (4) and UCLA (4). CU's four watch list student-athletes match the totals of the rest of the BIG EAST combined (Xavier 2, Villanova 1, UConn 1).
Previous winners of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award are Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky (2022), 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).
For more information on the 2023 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award and the latest updates, visit hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophall and #KareemAward on Twitter and Instagram.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced today the 20 watch list members for the 2023 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award. Named after Class of 1995 Hall of Famer and three-time NCAA Champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the annual honor in its ninth year recognizes the top center in men's college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates.
"Rounding out the Men's Starting Five Watch List is the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award. The student-athletes on this list should feel tremendously proud of all they have accomplished to be associated with basketball's all-time leading scorer," said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Basketball Hall of Fame. "With his focus on both education and athletics, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's perspective is cherished by our committee when evaluating talent each year."
A junior from Florissant, Mo., Kalkbrenner averaged 13.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.6 blocked shots per game while starting CU's first 34 contests last season. He was an Honorable Mention All-BIG EAST choice, BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year and named to the All-BIG EAST Tournament Team while ranking fourth nationally in both field goal percentage (.646) and offensive rebounds per game (3.9). He was the lone Bluejay named Preseason First Team All-BIG EAST last week for ninth-ranked team in the nation, who are predicted to win the BIG EAST.
Kalkbrenner is Creighton's second player in the nine seasons of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award to be named to the watch list at any point, joining Justin Patton in 2016-17. Patton was on the preseason list of 20 and later made the cut down to 10 during his campaign that saw him earn BIG EAST Freshman of the Year accolades.
2023 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Candidates*
| Charles Bediako | Alabama | Moussa Cissé | Oklahoma State |
| Oumar Ballo | Arizona | Kel'el Ware | Oregon |
| PJ Hall | Clemson | Zach Edey | Purdue |
| Ryan Kalkbrenner | Creighton | Clifford Omoruyi | Rutgers |
| Dereck Lively II | Duke | Fardaws Aimaq | Texas Tech |
| Colin Castleton | Florida | Adem Bona | UCLA |
| Osun Osunniyi | Iowa State | Adama Sanogo | UConn |
| Oscar Tshiebwe | Kentucky | Branden Carlson | Utah |
| Hunter Dickinson | Michigan | Jamarion Sharp | Western Kentucky |
| Armando Bacot | North Carolina | Jack Nunge | Xavier |
*Players can play their way onto and off the list at any point in the 2022-2023 season*
Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, in each of the three rounds starting today. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2023 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award will be narrowed to 10 and then in late February to just five. In March the five finalists will be presented to Abdul-Jabbar and the Hall of Fame's selection committee where a winner will be selected.
The winner of the 2023 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award will be presented on a to be determined date, along with the other four members of the Men's Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Bob Cousy Award (Point Guard), Jerry West Award (Shooting Guard), Julius Erving Award (Small Forward) and the Karl Malone Award (Power Forward), in addition to the Women's Starting Five.
On Monday, Kalkbrenner's teammate Ryan Nembhard earned a spot on the watch list for the Bob Cousy Award while on Wednesday it was announced that Baylor Scheierman is up for the Julius Erving Award. Yesterday, Arthur Kaluma landed on the watch list for the Karl Malone Award. Last week, Creighton's Emma Ronsiek landed on the Katrina McClain Award watch list as a candidate to be recognized as the nation's top power forward in women's basketball.
Creighton (4) is one of six schools with four or more men's basketball players on a watch list, joining Duke (5), Kentucky (5), Arizona (4), Gonzaga (4) and UCLA (4). CU's four watch list student-athletes match the totals of the rest of the BIG EAST combined (Xavier 2, Villanova 1, UConn 1).
Previous winners of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award are Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky (2022), 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).
For more information on the 2023 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award and the latest updates, visit hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophall and #KareemAward on Twitter and Instagram.
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