Creighton's Kalkbrenner Named Finalist for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award
SPRINGFIELD, MASS. (March 7, 2025) — The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced that Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner is one of five finalists for the 2025 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award. Named after Class of 1995 Hall of Famer and three-time NCAA Champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the annual honor, in its 11th year, recognizes the top center in men's college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the finalists.
This is the third straight season that Kalkbrenner has been named a finalist for the award, which was won by National Player of the Year Zach Edey each of the previous two years.
2025 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Finalists
Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton
Derik Queen, Maryland
Vladislav Goldin, Michigan
Nate Bittle, Oregon
Maxime Raynaud, Stanford
A 7-foot-1 center from Florissant, Mo., Kalkbrenner has led Creighton to a 21-9 record and second place in the BIG EAST standings. The Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year leads the league in field goal percentage (.658), rebounds (8.8) and blocked shots per game (2.7) while ranking second with 19.1 points per contest. He ranks fourth nationally in field goal percentage, fourth in blocked shots, 17th in field goals made and 38th in double-doubles. He owns BIG EAST career records for field goal percentage (.639), games played (97), minutes played (2,895) and field goals (544) in league play and is one block away from Patrick Ewing's record. Next week he can join Ewing as the only man in league history to be named a four-time BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year.
Kalkbrenner enters Saturday's game vs. Butler tied with Abdul-Jabbar for 165th in NCAA history with 2,325 career points, which ranks second in Creighton history. Kalkbrenner is also second in school history in career field goal percentage and blocked shots and third in rebounding.
Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting starting today, March 7, on hoophallawards.com. The Fan Vote will count as one committee vote during the finalist selection process.
Later this month, the finalists will be presented to Abdul-Jabbar and the Hall of Fame's selection committees. The Selection Committees for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are composed of top men's college basketball personnel, including media members, head coaches, sports information directors, and Hall of Famers. The winner of the 2025 Abdul-Jabbar will be presented on a to-be-determined date, along with the other four members of the Men's Starting Five.
Previous winners of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award are Zach Edey, Purdue (2023-24), Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky (2022), Luka Garza, Iowa (2020-21), Ethan Happ, Wisconsin (2019), Angel Delgado, Seton Hall (2018), Przemek Karnowski, Gonzaga (2017), Jakob Poeltl, Utah (2016), and Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin (2015).