SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Before beginning his final season at Arizona, Kaleb Tarczewski is one of the select names on the 2016 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award watch list. Awarded by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the honor goes to the top center in the nation. Tarczewski is one of just 20 names on the national preseason list for the award.
Tarczewski enters his senior season on pace to become the winningest player in program history after three decorated seasons as the everyday starting big man for the Wildcats. An integral part of Arizona's back-to-back appearances in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, the seven footer is also approaching 1,000 points and 500 rebounds for his career.
The Claremont, N.H. native spent the summer with Team USA in the Pan American games in Toronto, earning a bronze medal.
The rest of the watch list includes Mamadou N'Djiaye (UC Irvine), Josh Scott (Colorado), Egidijus Mockevicius (Evansville), Przemek Karnowski (Gonzaga), Thomas Bryant (Indiana), Jameel McKay (Idaho State), Cheick Diallo (Kansas), Skal Labissiere (Kentucky), Diamond Stone (Maryland), Stephen Zimmerman (UNLV), Kennedy Meeks (North Carolina), Zach Auguste (Notre Dame), AJ Hammons (Purdue), Jakob Poeltl (Utah), Damian Jones (Vanderbilt), Daniel Ochefu (Villanova), Josh Hawkinson (Washington State), Joel Bolomboy (Weber State), Devin Williams (West Virginia). Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky won the 2015 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar award and was the ninth overall pick of the 2015 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets.
Tarczewski, who previously received Academic All-Pac-12 honors, is currently finishing his Business degree in the prestigious Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona.
The Wildcats will begin their season with the 2015 McDonald's Red-Blue game on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 1 p.m. local time at the McKale Center. The annual, unofficial start to the season is sold out.
For the latest updates on Arizona men's basketball and an inside look at the program, follow @APlayersProgram on Twitter and @uaplayersprogram on Instagram.
