SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — University of Louisville center Steven Enoch is among 20 watch list members for the 2020 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Year Award as announced today by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Named after Class of 1995 Hall of Famer and three-time NCAA Champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the annual honor in its sixth year recognizes the top centers in men’s college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates.
Enoch, who earned a bachelor’s degree in communication from UofL this spring, was a double-figure scorer in 17 games for the Cardinals in 2018-19. In his last 20 games coming off the bench, Enoch averaged 10.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and made 52 percent of his shots from the field, including 11-of-32 three-pointers (.344), in an average of 19 minutes a game.
A powerful player with a soft shooting touch, Enoch was third on the team in free throw percentage (58-of-72, .806). The 6-10 Enoch from Norwalk, Conn., scored a career-high 22 points against Boston College and he produced his first double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds at North Carolina. Honored on the 2019 All-ACC Academic men’s basketball team, Enoch played his first two collegiate seasons at the University of Connecticut before transferring to UofL, sitting out the 2017-18 season and playing his junior year in 2018-19.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played for legendary coach and Hall of Famer John Wooden at the University of California, Los Angeles from 1966-1969. He is a three-time NCAA Champion who earned numerous accolades including three-time Final Four Most Outstanding Player, three-time National College Player of the Year and three-time Consensus First-Team All-American (1967-1969). As a professional, Abdul-Jabbar is a six-time NBA Champion, six-time NBA Most Valuable Player, two-time NBA Finals MVP, 19-time NBA All-Star and the league’s all-time leading scorer.
New to the award this season is Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies in each of the three rounds. By mid-February, the watch list of 20 players for the 2020 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award will be narrowed down to just 10. In March, five finalists will be presented to Abdul-Jabbar and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee. The winner of the 2020 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award will be presented at TheCollegeBasketballAwardspresented by Wendy’s in Los Angeles, CA on Friday, April 10, 2020, along with the other four members of the Men’s Starting Five.
Additional awards being presented and receiving support from Eaton Ephesus Lighting include the Bob Cousy Point Guard Award, the Jerry West Shooting Guard Award, the Julius Erving Small Forward Award and the Karl Malone Power Forward Award, in addition to the Women’s Starting Five. Broadcast information will be released by ESPN at a later date.
Previous winners of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award include 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 2020 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the latest updates, log onto www.hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophall and #KareemAward on Twitter and Instagram. Starting Five Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies is live at this link: http://www.hoophallawards.com/men/vote.php
2020 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award Candidates*
| Chase Jeter | Arizona |
| Nico Carvacho | Colorado State |
| Vernon Carey | Duke |
| Kerry Blackshear | Florida |
| Omer Yurtseven | Georgetown |
| Luke Garza | Iowa |
| Udoka Azubuike | Kansas |
| Steven Enoch | Louisville |
| James Wiseman | Memphis |
| Jon Teske | Michigan |
| Jeremiah Tillmon | Missouri |
| Armando Bacot | North Carolina |
| Nate Watson | Providence |
| Matt Haarms | Purdue |
| Nick Rakocevic | USC |
| Neemias Queta | Utah St |
| Isaiah Stewart | Washington |
| Derek Culver | West Virginia |
| Charles Bassey | Western Kentucky |
| Nathan Knight | William and Mary |
*Playerscanplaytheirwayontoandoffofthelistatanypointinthe 2019-20 season*
About the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
Located in Springfield, Massachusetts, the city where basketball was born, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting, preserving and celebrating the game of basketball at every level – men and women, amateur and professional players, coaches and contributors, both domestically and internationally. The Hall of Fame museum is home to more than 400 inductees and over 40,000 square feet of basketball history. Nearly 200,000 people visit the Hall of Fame museum each year to learn about the game, experience the interactive exhibits and test their skills on the Jerry Colangelo “Court of Dreams.” Best known for its annual marquee Enshrinement Ceremony honoring the game’s elite, the Hall of Fame also operates over 70 high school and collegiate competitions annually throughout the country and abroad. For more information on the Basketball Hall of Fame organization, its museum and events, visit www.hoophall.com, follow @hoophall and #KareemAward or call 1-877-4HOOPLA.