TUCSON, Ariz. – The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced today the 20 watch-list members for the 2023 Karl Malone Award and Arizona’s Azuolas Tubelis was among the honorees.
Named after Class of 2010 Hall of Famer and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Karl Malone, the annual honor in its ninth year recognizes the top power forwards in Division I men’s college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates.
Tubelis is First Team Preseason All Pac-12 honoree this year after he averaged 14.1 points per game in conference play in 2021-22 and shot 54.0% from the field. He also earned first team all-conference accolades last year along with NABC and USBWA All-District honors and needs just 184 points to reach 1,000 points for his career.
Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, in each of the three rounds beginning Friday, October 28. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2022 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award will be narrowed to 10 and then in late February to just five. In March the five finalists will be presented to Malone and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee where a winner will be selected.
The winner of the 2023 Karl Malone 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 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award (Center), in addition to the Women’s Starting Five.
Previous winners of the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award include Keegan Murray, Iowa (2022), Drew Timme, Gonzaga (2021), Obi Toppin, Dayton (2020), Zion Williamson, Duke (2019), Deandre Ayton, Arizona (2018), Johnathan Motley, Baylor (2017), Georges Niang, Iowa State (2016) and Montrezl Harrell, Louisville (2015).
2023 Karl Malone Award Candidates
| Enrique Freeman | Akron |
| Ažuolas Tubelis | Arizona |
| Johni Broome | Auburn |
| Arthur Kaluma | Creighton |
| DaRon Holmes II | Dayton |
| Kyle Filipowski | Duke |
| Jalen Slawson | Furman |
| Drew Timme | Gonzaga |
| Jarace… |
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