Gophers' Dawson Garcia named finalist for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award

The award is given to the nation's best center.

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame named Gophers men's basketball big man Dawson Garcia a top-10 finalist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, given to the nation's best center, on Friday. 

Garcia is seventh in the Big Ten in scoring at 17.5 points per game and ranks 11th in the conference in rebounds at 7.1 boards per contest. Despite missing three games, he leads Minnesota in overall points scored with 298.

Garcia has also recorded three double-doubles this season.

With the field for the award whittled down to 10 athletes, Gophers fans can now make their voices heard by voting for Garcia at hoophallawards.com. 

The fan vote counts as one committee member during the selection process, with the rest of the selection committee for the award made up of media members, coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers.

The top-five finalists will be presented to the selection committee in March.

Other finalists for the award include North Carolina’s Armando Bacot, Utah’s Branden Carlson, Connecticut’s Donovan Clingan, Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson, St. John’s Joel Soriano, Auburn’s Johni Broome, Clemson’s PJ Hall, Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner and Purdue’s Zach Edey. 

Minnesota forward Dawson Garcia (3) looks to drive the ball to the basket as Penn State forward Qudus Wahab (22) defends during the second half at Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pa., on Jan. 27, 2024 :: Matthew O'Haren / USA TODAY Sports