Bacot Named Finalist For Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award

SPRINGFIELD, MASS. — The Basketball Hall of Fame announced the five finalists for the 2023 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award on Friday, and Tar Heel senior Armando Bacot made the cut.

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 Division I men's college basketball.

2023 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Finalists

Ryan Kalkbrenner	Creighton
Oscar Tshiebwe	Kentucky
Armando Bacot	North Carolina
Zach Edey	Purdue
Adama Sanogo	UConn

Fans can support their favorite player by participating in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, starting today on hoophallawards.com. The Fan Vote will count as one committee vote during the finalist selection process.

This month, the finalists will be presented to Abdul-Jabbar and the Hall of Fame's selection committee. The Selection Committee for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award is composed of top men's college basketball personnel including media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers.

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.

Previous winners of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award are Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky (2022), 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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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Finalist. pic.twitter.com/RHEiNFqOy9
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) March 10, 2023

Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

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