UPI College Basketball Player of the Year

The UPI College Basketball Player of the Year was an annual basketball award given to the best men's basketball player in NCAA Division I competition. The award was first given following the 1954–55 season and was discontinued following the 1995–96 season. It was given by United Press International (UPI), a news agency in the United States that rivaled the Associated Press but began to decline with the advent of television news.

UPI College Basketball Player of the Year
Given forthe most outstanding NCAA Division I men's basketball player
CountryUnited States
Presented byUnited Press International
History
First award1955
Final award1996

Five players—Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas, Lew Alcindor[a], Bill Walton and Ralph Sampson—won the award multiple times. Of these five, only Robertson, Walton and Sampson were three-time UPI Players of the Year.

UCLA had the most all-time winners with six. Ohio State was second with four winners, while Cincinnati and Virginia were tied for third with three winners apiece. Five other schools had two winners and sixteen schools had only one UPI Player of the Year.

Eight of the winners were sophomores, seven were juniors, and the remaining 27 were seniors. No freshman was ever presented the award.

Key
Player (X) Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the Player of the Year award at that point

Winners
Bill Russell won the award in 1956.
Bill Bradley (42) won the award in 1965.
Bill Walton won the award three times from 1972–74.
Michael Jordan won the award in 1984.
David Robinson won the award in 1987.
Ray Allen was the final recipient of the award, winning it in 1996.
Season Player School Position Class
1954–55 Tom Gola La Salle F Senior
1955–56 Bill Russell San Francisco C Senior
1956–57 Chet Forte Columbia PG Senior
1957–58 Oscar Robertson Cincinnati PG Sophomore
1958–59 Oscar Robertson (2) Cincinnati PG Junior
1959–60 Oscar Robertson (3) Cincinnati PG Senior
1960–61 Jerry Lucas Ohio State F / C Junior
1961–62 Jerry Lucas (2) Ohio State F / C Senior
1962–63 Art Heyman Duke G / F Senior
1963–64 Gary Bradds Ohio State F Senior
1964–65 Bill Bradley Princeton SF / SG Senior
1965–66 Cazzie Russell Michigan SG Senior
1966–67 Lew Alcindor[a] UCLA C Sophomore
1967–68 Elvin Hayes Houston F / C Senior
1968–69 Lew Alcindor[a] (2) UCLA C Senior
1969–70 Pete Maravich LSU G Senior
1970–71 Austin Carr Notre Dame G Senior
1971–72 Bill Walton UCLA C Sophomore
1972–73 Bill Walton (2) UCLA C Junior
1973–74 Bill Walton (3) UCLA C Senior
1974–75 David Thompson NC State SG / SF Senior
1975–76 Scott May Indiana F Senior
1976–77 Marques Johnson UCLA G / F Senior
1977–78 Butch Lee Marquette PG Senior
1978–79 Larry Bird Indiana State SF Senior
1979–80 Mark Aguirre DePaul SF Sophomore
1980–81 Ralph Sampson Virginia C Sophomore
1981–82 Ralph Sampson (2) Virginia C Junior
1982–83 Ralph Sampson (3) Virginia C Senior
1983–84 Michael Jordan North Carolina SG Junior
1984–85 Chris Mullin St. John's SF / SG Senior
1985–86 Walter Berry St. John's PF Senior
1986–87 David Robinson Navy C Senior
1987–88 Hersey Hawkins Bradley SG Senior
1988–89 Danny Ferry Duke PF / C Senior
1989–90 Lionel Simmons La Salle SF Senior
1990–91 Shaquille O'Neal LSU C Sophomore
1991–92 Jim Jackson Ohio State SG Junior
1992–93 Calbert Cheaney Indiana SF Senior
1993–94 Glenn Robinson Purdue SF / PF Sophomore
1994–95 Joe Smith Maryland C Sophomore
1995–96 Ray Allen Connecticut SG Junior

Winners by school
School Winners Years
UCLA 6 1967, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977
Ohio State 4 1961, 1962, 1964, 1992
Cincinnati 3 1958, 1959, 1960
Virginia 3 1981, 1982, 1983
Duke 2 1963, 1989
Indiana 2 1976, 1993
La Salle 2 1955, 1990
LSU 2 1970, 1991
St. John's 2 1985, 1986
Bradley 1 1988
Columbia 1 1957
Connecticut 1 1996
DePaul 1 1980
Houston 1 1968
Indiana State 1 1979
Marquette 1 1978
Maryland 1 1995
Michigan 1 1966
Navy 1 1987
NC State 1 1975
North Carolina 1 1984
Notre Dame 1 1971
Princeton 1 1965
Purdue 1 1994
San Francisco 1 1956

Footnotes
  • a Lew Alcindor changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1971 after converting to Islam.[1][2]

References
General
  1. "United Press International Player of the Year". AmericasBestOnline.com. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
  2. "Men's College Basketball: Player of the Year Awards → United Press International". HickokSports.com. 2006. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
Specific
  1. Associated Press (4 June 1971). "Call Me 'Kareem' says Lew Alcindor" (Google News Archive). The Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  2. "'Big O' Completes Bucks' Championship Run". NBA Encyclopedia Playoff Edition. National Basketball Association. 2010. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
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