BLACKSBURG — Virginia Tech men's basketball redshirt-senior Keve Aluma has been named to the preseason watch list for the 2022 Karl Malone Award, as announced Thursday by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
This annual award is going into its eighth year in recognizing the top power forward in Division 1 men's college basketball. A national committee of the top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of the 20 candidates. The contenders will be narrowed down to 10 in late January and then down to the top five in February. Players can be added to and taken off the watch list throughout the season for the first two rounds.
The final five will then be presented to Karl Malone and the selection committee to determine the winner and the other four members of the Men's Starting Five on a date that is TBD. Additionally, awards including the Bob Cousy Point Guard Award, the Jerry West Shooting Guard Award, the Julius Erving Small Forward Award, and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center award will also be announced on the TBD date.
College basketball fans are encouraged to participate in each of the three rounds through fan voting, presented by Dell Technologies, which will open on Friday, October 22.
Aluma is one of four ACC players on the preseason watch list, including Paolo Banchero from Duke, Dawson Garcia from North Carolina, and Jayden Gardner from Virginia.
Since following head coach Mike Young to Tech, Aluma has started in all 22 games he played during the 2020-2021 season. The Berlin, Maryland native earned Second-Team All-ACC, First-Team NABC All-District II, USBWA All-District III Team, ACC Player of the Week twice, Naismith Trophy National Player of the Week and ESPN National Player of the Week last season. Aluma averaged 15.2 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 30.6 minutes per game last year.
The Hokies will tip-off the 2021-22 season at home in Cassell Coliseum on November 9 at 8 p.m. against Maine. The game will be streamed on ACCNX.
2022 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award Watch List
Azoulas Tubelis, Arizona
Jabari Smith, Auburn
David Robby, Colorado St.
Paolo Banchero, Duke
Drew Timme, Gonzaga
Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana
Kenneth Lofton Jr., Louisiana Tech
Eli Scott, Loyola Marymount
Darius Days, LSU
Donta Scott, Maryland
DeAndre Williams, Memphis
Dawson Garcia, North Carolina
EJ Lidell, Ohio State
Quincy Guerrier, Oregon
Trevion Williams, Perdue
John Fulkerson, Tennessee
Tre Mitchell, Texas
Isaiah Mobley, USC
Jayden Gardner, Virginia
Keve Aluma, Virginia Tech