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PJ Washington Named to the Preseason Karl Malone Award Watch List

Photo by Keyli Chisesi (Go Big Blue Country)

 

The preseason accolades continue to roll in for the Wildcats and this time PJ Washington is being recognized. In addition to teammates Hamidou Diallo (Jerry West Award) and Kevin Knox (Julius Erving Award), Washington was named a candidate for the Karl Malone Award, which is annually presented to the nation’s best power forward.

 

Washington, a 6-7 forward from Dallas, TX., will look to be the first UK player to win the Karl Malone Award. The UK freshman was rated the No. 12 recruit in the country by ESPN and was the second commitment of the Wildcats 2017 recruiting class. As a senior, Washington was selected to the McDonalds All-American game and the Jordan Brand Classic. He also gained experience playing for Calipari as a member of Team USA in the U19 FIBA World Cup in 2017.

 

The award is named after Karl Malone, who attended Louisiana Tech University. Malone, nicked named “The Mailman”, spent 19 successful seasons in the NBA. He was a 14-time NBA All-Star and 11-time All-NBA First Team selection. Malone also won two Olympic gold medals in 1992 and 1996.

 

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame will present the Karl Malone Award on April 6th at the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show in Los Angeles. By mid-February, the list of candidates will be narrowed to 10, before five finalists are selected in March.

 

This will be the fourth season the award has been presented. Past winners are Johnathan Motley (Baylor, 2017), Georges Niang (Iowa State, 2016), and Montrez Harrell (Louisville, 2015).

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