The Prestigious John R. Wooden Award
The College Basketball Awards market consists of eight individual awards that are handed out at a series of events called the ‘Fan Jam’ that are held by the league as well as league sponsors. The event hands out awards to both the men’s and women’s NCAA college basketball finalists, so it’s a pretty big event across the college basketball games. Teams and players from the Big East Conference, the Mid-American Conference, the ACC, Big Ten, and Pac-12 vie for both the championship cup and the NCAAM awards. The Men’s College Basketball Schedule involves prestigious college teams including UConn, Purdue Boilmakers, Houston, Arizona, Tennessee, North Carolina, Iowa State, Duke, Kentucky, Marquette, Creighton, Illinois, Michigan State, Wisconsin, and more.
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Positional Awards
Recognizing Coaching Excellence with the Legends in Coaching Award
As mentioned, eight awards are given out:
The John R. Wooden Award was founded in 1976 and is named after coach Wooden, who valued the spirit and ideals that he sought in his players. The award is given to both men’s and women’s player of the year in their respective leagues.
The ballot is chosen by the National Advisory Board and there is an extensive criteria that the players must meet.
The awards are voted on by over 1,000 NCAA basketball experts from all 50 states.
The Legends in Coaching award recognizes coaching success and a coach’s legacy in the NCAA league.
This isn’t an award you would win in one season, it’s a lifetime award given to coaches demonstrating success, much like John R. Wooden saw in his career.
The Wooden Award Committee votes on criteria such as a coach’s character, success, and philosophy.
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Positional Awards
There are also Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame positional awards which are given to the players that have demonstrated excellence at their respective positions.
- The Bob Cousy Award is given to the point guard of the year across the whole NCAA basketball league.
- The Karl Malone Award is given to the power forward of the year across the league.
- The Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award is given to the center of the year.
- The Julius Erving Award presented by Daltile is awarded to the top small forward of the year.
- The Jerry West Award is given to the best shooting guard in the league.