Gonzaga's Drew Timme named CBS Sports' Preseason Player of the Year

The reigning WCC Player of the Year was also named to the All-American First Team

Drew Timme was named the CBS Sports Preseason Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, as well as a preseason All-American.

Timme joins Kentucky big man Oscar Tshiebwe, North Carolina's Armando Bacot, UCLA's Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Houston guard Marcus Sasser on the All-American first team.

The honor shouldn’t come as a shock after Timme was voted as the best player in college basketball heading into the 2022-23 season in an anonymous coaches poll this past offseason. He edged out Tshiebwe, the reigning National Player of the Year, by ten percent of the votes. The two All-Americans will square off on Nov. 20 in the Spokane Arena.

Four forwards on the All-American team highlight just how loaded college basketball is with frontcourt talent. Timme, Tshiebwe and Bacot will be in the conversation for the game’s best player all season long while competing for a national title.

Timme led the West Coast Conference in scoring last season with 18.4 points per game. The senior was third in the conference shooting 58.6 percent from the field and sixth in rebounds per game (6.8).

Timme won the Karl Malone Award in 2020-21 and was a finalist for last season's Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award. He averaged 27.3 points and 11.3 rebounds in last season's NCAA Tournament. The Dallas, Texas, native ranks 15th in program history with 1,521 points and 15th with 617 rebounds. He’s 675 points away from being GU’s all-time leading scorer.

Photo by Kelley L Cox, USA TODAY Sports