Bassey Selected as Finalist for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Hilltopper Basketball junior center Charles Bassey has been selected as a top-five finalist for the 2021 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award, as announced Friday by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Named after the Class of 1995 Hall of Famer, Pac-12 Player of the Century and three-time NCAA Champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the annual honor in its seventh year recognizes the top centers in men’s college basketball and is a part of the Naismith Starting Five. A national committee of top college basketball personnel narrowed the watch list of 20 centers to 10 candidates in January and has now reached the five finalists.

This month, the five finalists will be presented to Mr. Abdul-Jabbar and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee. The winner of the 2021 Award will be determined by a combination of fan votes and input from the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Bassey – a 6-foot-11, 235-pound native of Lagos, Nigeria – was named to the Kareem Award watch list last season before his sophomore campaign was cut short after just 10 games by a season-ending leg injury. He was a top-five finalist for the 2019 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, and one of four freshmen to be named a finalist in the award’s existence.

This adds to a surging list of honors for the All-American candidate.

Bassey has been named to the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List, selected to the Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Midseason Watch List and is on the National Player of the Year watch list for the Lute Olson Award. He was also named a Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Semifinalist earlier this week.

As of Friday, Bassey ranked third in the nation in blocks per game, fourth in double-doubles, fifth in defensive rebounds per game, sixth in rebounds per game and seventh in total blocks.

The junior is averaging 17.5 points with 11.5 boards and three blocks per contest. He’s shooting 60.5% from the field including a 33.3% mark from beyond the arc. He’s one of just two players in the country with multiple games this season of at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks, and the only player with three such games.

Bassey is the only player in the nation since at least 2010 with three games in a season of at least 20 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks.

In four games against West Virginia, Louisville, Alabama and Memphis, he averaged 19 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.8 blocks.

Bassey’s been named Conference USA Player of the Week six times already this year, tying former Cincinnati star and longtime NBA pro Kenyon Martin for the league record for most in a single season.

College basketball fans are encouraged to participate in the Naismith Starting Five Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies in each of the three rounds. Fans can vote for Bassey at the following link: http://goto.ps/CBKareem2020.

The winner of the 2021 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award will be presented on Friday, April 9, along with the other four members of the Men’s Starting Five. Additional awards being presented 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.

Previous winners of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award include Luka Garza, Iowa (2020), Ethan Happ, Wisconsin (2019), Angel Delgado, Seton Hall (2018), Przemek Karnowski, Gonzaga (2017), Jakob Poeltl, Utah (2016) and Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin (2015).