Oscar Tshiebwe named finalist for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center Award

Before Oscar Tshiebwe can win National Player of the Year, he’ll first need to prove to the voters that he’s the best at his position. With just one game left in the regular season, he’s in terrific position to do just that.

On Friday, it was announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame that Tshiebwe has been named one of five finalists for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center Award, which is handed out annually to the nation’s top center. The 6-foot-9 Kentucky big man joins a list of elite centers, including Walker Kessler (Auburn), Adama Sanogo (UConn), Drew Timme (Gonzaga), and Kofi Cockburn (Illinois). This will be the eighth year in the award’s existence with Tshiebwe looking to be the first Wildcat to earn the honors.

“This is a tremendous crop of student-athletes that are each deserving of winning this award,” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 1995, said in the press release. “It’ll be a lot of fun to watch these young men play their hardest when the stakes at their highest as we come into the home stretch of the season.”

RT if you think @Oscartshiebwe34 is the best center in the nation.

Big O named one of five finalists for the @Hoophall Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award.

📝 https://t.co/bZ3lsDuvkr pic.twitter.com/zY3gWCf70T

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) March 4, 2022

But here’s the part where you get involved, Big Blue Nation. Fan voting decides a significant amount of the final tally. If you’d like to vote for Tshiebwe to win the Kareem Abdul-Jabaar Center Award, follow the link here to do so. Additionally, you can also vote for Kentucky ball handler Sahvir Wheeler, who was recently named one of five finalists for the Bob Cousy Award, which goes out to the nation’s best point guard.

Fan voting officially went live on March 4.

Tshiebwe is currently projected as one of the two or three finalists for the National Player of the Year Award, let alone the Kareem Abdul-Jabaar Center Award. He’s averaging record-breaking figures of 16.9 points, 15.3 rebounds, 1.8 steals, and 1.5 blocks per outing while shooting 60.2 percent from the field. Tshiebwe was just recently tabbed as a finalist for the National Defensive Player of the Year Award, as well. Depending on how deep Kentucky goes in the postseason, he could set multiple program records before the season comes to a close.

Something tells me Tshiebwe is going to haul in plenty of hardware over the next several weeks, hopefully ending with the biggest one of them all down in New Orleans next month.