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