The ten finalists for the 2020 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award was announced on Friday and Kentucky’s Nick Richards didn’t make the list.
The award is given annually to the best big man in college basketball and for a long stretch this season, Richards has played like the best.
Since the Wildcats win vs. Louisville on December 28th, Richards is averaging 17.2 points and 9.7 rebounds while shooting 63 percent from the field.
He has scored 20+ points in three of his last five games, including a career-high 27 points last Tuesday vs. Mississippi State.
Richards has gotten better as the season has progressed. Through the first 11 games of the season, the junior big man was averaging 11.9 points per game. He has averaged 17.2 per game since then.
Players to make the list of finalists are:
Vernon Carey, Duke
Omer Yurtseven, Georgetown
Filip Petrusev, Gonzaga
Luka Garza, Iowa
Udoka Azubuike, Kansas
Daniel Oturu, Minnesota
Kaleb Wesson, Ohio State
Onyeka Okongwu, USC
Isaiah Stewart, Washington
Nathan Knight, William & Mary
While it’s disappointing Richards didn’t make the list, the UK big man can use it as motivation the rest of the season.
