Delgado Named Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Finalist
3/9/2018 1:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Springfield, Mass. - Seton Hall men's basketball senior center Angel Delgado (Bajos De Haina, Dominican Republic) has been named a top-five finalist for the 2018 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced Friday. Delgado is joined on the list by Isaac Haas of Purdue, Jock Landale of Saint Mary's, Brandon McCoy of UNLV and Thomas Welsh of UCLA.
This is the second consecutive year that Delgado has been named a top-five finalist for the prestigious honor that is named after three-time NCAA champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
A national committee of top college basketball personnel including media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers narrowed the original watch list of 20 players down to 10 candidates and now just 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 2018 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award will be determined by a combination of fan votes and input from the Basketball Hall of Fame's selection committee. Fans are encouraged to visit www.HoophallAwards.com to cast their votes March 9-23.
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"With each season of hoops comes a new opportunity for players to prove their development as athletes and people," said Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. "When evaluating our finalists for this year's award, our committee will review the complete profiles of these student-athletes to determine the most deserving honoree. I hope the fans who vote will do the same."
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Delgado was once again the best big man in the BIG EAST Conference, winning the league's rebounding championship for the third time in four years, becoming only the second player in conference history to be a three-time rebounding champion (Michael Smith, Providence, 1992-94). Overall, he is averaging 13.3 points and 11.6 rebounds on the season, giving him a season average double-double for the second straight year. He has 21 double-doubles in 2017-18, currently ranking him third in the nation. He also is in the top 10 in the country in overall rebounding and offensive rebounding (3.88).
For his career, Delgado is NCAA Div. I's active leader in career rebounds (1,423) and double-doubles (71) and is 18th all-time in NCAA history in double-doubles. In BIG EAST lore, he is the conference's single-season and career leader in rebounds grabbed, the latter a 28-year-old record that he broke on Jan. 28, 2018.
The winner of the 2018 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award will be honored at ESPN's College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy's in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, April 6, 2018 (8 p.m. ET on ESPN2). 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.
For more information on the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, visit www.HoophallAwards.com.
2018 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Finalists
Angel Delgado, Seton Hall
Isaac Haas, Purdue
Jock Landale, Saint Mary's
Brandon McCoy, UNLV
Thomas Welsh, UCLA
Players Mentioned
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