Welsh Named to Abdul-Jabbar Award Watch List
October 21, 2016 | Men's Basketball
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – UCLA center Thomas Welsh has been named as one of 20 watch list candidates for the 2017 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award, as announced Friday.
Named after Hall of Famer and three-time NCAA champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who starred at UCLA from 1967-69, the annual honor is in its third year and recognizes the top centers in Division I men's college basketball. A national committee comprised of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates.
As a sophomore last season, Welsh averaged 11.2 points and a team-leading 8.5 rebounds per game in 31 contests, making 26 starts. He ranked seventh in the Pac-12 in in rebounding, second in offensive rebounds per game (3.2) and third in field goal percentage (59.0 pct). He led UCLA in field goal percentage, improving his overall mark by 12 percentage points from his freshman campaign. In addition, Welsh was a second-team Pac-12 All-Academic selection.
By mid-February of 2017, the award's watch list of 20 players will be narrowed to 10. In March, five finalists will be presented to Mr. Abdul-Jabbar and the Hall of Fame's selection committee. The winner of the 2017 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award will be presented to the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show in Los Angeles on Friday, April 7.
Previous winners of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award were Jakob Poeltl (2016, Utah) and Frank Kaminsky (2015, Wisconsin).
Welsh is one of four UCLA players who has been named to a preseason positional "watch list," joining teammates Lonzo Ball, Isaac Hamilton and TJ Leaf. Earlier this week, Ball was named to the Bob Cousy Award watch list (point guard of the year), Hamilton to the Jerry West Award watch list (shooting guard) and Leaf to the Karl Malone Award watch list (power forward).
2017 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Candidates
Moses Kingsley (Arkansas)
Eric Mika (BYU)
Justin Patton (Creighton)
Marques Bolden (Duke)
Zena Edosomwan (Harvard)
Thomas Bryant (Indiana)
Bam Adebayo (Kentucky)
Tim Kempton (Lehigh)
Omer Yurtseven (N.C. State)
Chris Boucher (Oregon)
Isaac Haas (Purdue)
Paschal Chukwu (Syracuse)
Jarrett Allen (Texas)
Tyler Davis (Texas A&M)
Thomas Welsh (UCLA)
Kennedy Meeks (North Carolina)
Luke Kornet (Vanderbilt)
Mo Alie-Cox (VCU)
Josh Hawkinson (Washington State)
Ethan Happ (Wisconsin)
*note: players can play their way onto and off of the list at any point in the 2016-17 season.
