Thomas Welsh named to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award watch list

UCLA center Thomas Welsh is the only returning starter for the Bruins this year. (Harry How/Getty Images)

Senior Thomas Welsh was named to the watch list for the Kareen Abdul-Jabbar Award, which honors the nation’s top center.

Welsh averaged 10.8 points and a team-high 8.7 rebounds last year while helping the Bruins to the Sweet 16. He has started 58 of UCLA’s 68 games in the past two seasons.

The 20-man preseason watch list announced Friday will be narrowed down to 10 in February and five finalists will be announced in March, with the winner named on April 6.

Here’s the full watch list:

2018 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Candidates

Dusan Ristic                       Arizona
Austin Wiley                       Auburn
Kingsley Okoroh                California
Tacko Fall                          Central Florida
Marques Bolden                Duke
John Egbunu                     Florida
Jessie Govan                    Georgetown
Ben Lammers                   Georgia Tech
Nick Richards                   Kentucky
Omer Yurtseven                N.C. State
Isaac Haas                        Purdue
Jock Landale                     Saint Mary’s
Angel Delgado                  Seton Hall
Michael Humphrey            Stanford
Vladimir Brodziansky        TCU
Mohamed Bamba             Texas
Tyler Davis                        Texas A&M
Thomas Welsh                  UCLA
Chimezie Metu                  USC
Ethan Happ                       Wisconsin