Vote for Oscar Tshiebwe as the Naismith National Player of the Year
Good news, Big Blue Nation! YOU get to play a factor in Oscar Tshiebwe hopefully earning the top individual honor in all of college basketball.
Fan voting has officially opened for the 2022 Naismith Player of the Year Trophy, which is down to just four potential options that were announced on Tuesday: Kentucky’s Tshiebwe, Kansas’ Ochai Agbaji, Iowa’s Keegan Murray, and Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis. You can vote by going to naismithvote.com where you’ll pick one winner among the Men’s and Women’s National Player of the Year awards along with the Men’s and Women’s National Coach of the Year honors before submitting.
Voting opened on Tuesday and will run for one week, ending on Tuesday, March 29 at 6:00 p.m. EST. Fan voting accounts for five percent of the overall tally, so make sure to get a vote in every day for Tshiebwe. A winner will be announced during the Final Four on Sunday, April 3.
Tshiebwe is the first Division I player to average at least 15.0 points and 15.0 rebounds in a season since Drake’s Lewis Lloyd and Alcorn State’s Larry Smith each accomplished the feat in 1979-80. He’s also the first major-conference player to average at least 16.0 points and at least 15.0 rebounds in a season since Bill Walton at UCLA in 1972-73. Bob Burrow is the last Wildcat to hit those marks, averaging 19.1 points and 17.7 rebounds per contest in 1954-55.
He also finished the year as the only major conference player who averaged at least 1.6 blocks and 1.6 steals per game.
On the year, Tshiebwe finished with 515 total rebounds, pulling down at least 10 boards in all but two games this season. He finished the season with 21 straight games with double-digit rebounds and 16 straight double-doubles to end the year. The 6-foot-9 center totaled 28 double-doubles this year, a new Kentucky single-season record.
It’s not quite set in stone, but Tshiebwe coming away with National Player of the Year honors feels more likely than not. He probably needs a second trophy case after all the hardware he’s already acquired. The complete list of Tshiebwe’s season accolades and awards can be found below. Take a big, deep breath…
- NCAA Consensus All-America First Team
- USBWA First-Team All-America
- NABC First-Team All-America
- Associated Press First-Team All-America
- Sporting News First-Team All-America
- NABC All-District 20 First Team
- Southeastern Conference Player of the Year (coaches/media)
- All-SEC First Team (coaches/media)
- All-SEC Defensive Team (coaches)
- USBWA District IV Player of the Year
- USBWA All-District IV team
- USA Today National Player of the Year
- USA Today First-Team All-American
- The Athletic’s National Player of the Year
- Sports Illustrated First-Team All-American
- The Field of 68 National Player of the Year
- The Field of 68 First-Team All-America
- College Hoops Today National Player of the Year
- USA Today SEC Player of the Year
- USA Today First-Team All-SEC unanimous selection
And exhale… Now go get those votes in!
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