KANSAS CITY, Mo. — University of Kansas star Ochai Agbaji is one of four finalists for the 2022 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy as men’s college basketball’s player of the year.
The Atlanta Tipoff Club announced the finalists for the men’s and women’s award Tuesday morning.
Big 12 coaches chose Agbaji — a senior guard who graduated from Oak Park High School in Kansas City, Missouri — as the league’s player of the year this season.
He also was the Most Outstanding Player in the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament and a first-team All-Big 12 selection.
Agbaji leads the Jayhawks and all Big 12 players in scoring at 19.3 points per game. He also averages 5.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists for KU, which has reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2018.
Two Jayhawks — Danny Manning (1988) and Frank Mason III (2017) — have won the Naismith Award, which was established in 1969.
The reigning Naismith Award winner is former Iowa star Luke Garza.
The KU’s season continues at 6:29 p.m. on Friday against Providence at the United Center in Chicago.
The Jayhawks (30-6) are the top seed in the Midwest Regional and the Friars (27-5), who are in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1997, are the No. 4 seed.
The other finalists for the men’s award are Wisconsin sophomore guard Johnny Davis, Iowa sophomore forward Keegan Murray and Kentucky junior forward Oscar Tshiebwe.
The other three finalists and their teams all flamed out during the first weekend of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, leaving Agbaji as the only finalist still playing this weekend.
“All eight candidates have earned the honor of becoming a 2022 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy finalist through the tenacity and leadership each demonstrated throughout the season,” Atlanta Tipoff Club Executive Director Eric Oberman said in a statement. “We appreciate and congratulate them on their hard work; our voters will have a tremendous challenge selecting the winners.”
Fans can vote for the winners online beginning Tuesday afternoon through March 29. The fan vote counts 5% toward determining the winner.
The women’s winner will be announced March 30 during the Women’s Final Four in Minneapolis and the men’s winner will be announced April 3 during the Naismith Awards Brunch at the Final Four in New Orleans.
