# Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year

The Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year was an annual men's college basketball award given to the most outstanding men's player in the United States. It was awarded by the Helms Athletic Foundation, an organization founded in 1936 by Bill Schroeder and Paul Helms, the owner of Helms Bakery in Los Angeles.
The award was first presented in 1944, when the Helms Athletic Foundation announced Schroeder's player of the year selection for the 1943–44 season as well as his retroactive picks for each season from 1904–05 to 1942–43. Schroeder then began selecting a player of the year annually.
After Paul Helms' death in 1957, his family continued supporting the foundation until 1969, when the bakeries went out of business. Schroeder found a new benefactor in United Savings & Loan, and the foundation's name became United Savings–Helms Athletic Foundation. United merged with Citizens Savings & Loan in 1973, when the foundation became the Citizens Savings Athletic Foundation. It was again renamed when First Interstate Bank assumed sponsorship and was known as the First Interstate Bank Athletic Foundation in the award's final years after 1981. Schroeder made his last player of the year selection for the 1982–83 season, after which the award came to an end.

## Key

| † | Co-Players of the Year |
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the Helms Player of the Year award at that point |

## Winners

Winners prior to the 1942–43 season were selected retroactively in 1943 and 1957.
| Season | Player | School | Position | Class |
| 1904–05 | Christian Steinmetz | Wisconsin | F | Senior |
| 1905–06 | George Grebenstein | Dartmouth | F | Junior |
| 1906–07 | Gilmore Kinney | Yale | F | Senior |
| 1907–08 | Charles Keinath | Pennsylvania | F | Junior |
| 1908–09 | John Schommer | Chicago | C | Senior |
| 1909–10 | Harlan Page | Chicago | G | Senior |
| 1910–11 | Ted Kiendl | Columbia | F | Senior |
| 1911–12 | Otto Stangel | Wisconsin | F | Senior |
| 1912–13 | Eddie Calder | St. Lawrence | F | Senior |
| 1913–14 | Gil Halstead | Cornell | C | Senior |
| 1914–15 | Ernest Houghton | Union (NY) | G | Senior |
| 1915–16 | George Levis | Wisconsin | F | Senior |
| 1916–17 | Ray Woods | Illinois | G | Senior |
| 1917–18 | Bill Chandler | Wisconsin | C | Senior |
| 1918–19 | Erling Platou | Minnesota | G | Junior |
| 1919–20 | Howard Cann | NYU | F | Senior |
| 1920–21 | George Williams | Missouri | C | Senior |
| 1921–22 | Chuck Carney | Illinois | C | Senior |
| 1922–23 | Paul Endacott | Kansas | G | Senior |
| 1923–24 | Charlie T. Black | Kansas | G | Senior |
| 1924–25 | Earl Mueller | Colorado College | C | Senior |
| 1925–26 | Jack Cobb | North Carolina | F | Senior |
| 1926–27 | Vic Hanson | Syracuse | F | Senior |
| 1927–28 | Victor Holt | Oklahoma | C | Senior |
| 1928–29 | Cat Thompson | Montana State | F | Junior |
| 1929–30 | Charley Hyatt | Pittsburgh | G | Senior |
| 1930–31 | Bart Carlton | East Central | G | Senior |
| 1931–32 | John Wooden | Purdue | G | Junior |
| 1932–33 | Forest Sale | Kentucky | F / C | Senior |
| 1933–34 | Wesley Bennett | Westminster (PA) | C | Senior |
| 1934–35 | Leroy Edwards | Kentucky | C | Sophomore |
| 1935–36 | John Moir | Notre Dame | F | Sophomore |
| 1936–37 | Hank Luisetti | Stanford | F | Sophomore |
| 1937–38 | Hank Luisetti (2) | Stanford | F | Junior |
| 1938–39 | Chet Jaworski | Rhode Island | F | Senior |
| 1939–40 | George Glamack | North Carolina | C | Junior |
| 1940–41 | George Glamack (2) | North Carolina | C | Senior |
| 1941–42 | Stan Modzelewski | Rhode Island | G / F | Senior |
| 1942–43 | George Senesky | Saint Joseph's | G | Senior |
| 1943–44 | George Mikan | DePaul | C | Junior |
| 1944–45 | George Mikan (2) | DePaul | C | Senior |
| 1945–46 | Bob Kurland | Oklahoma State | C | Senior |
| 1946–47 | Gerald Tucker | Oklahoma | C | Senior |
| 1947–48 | Ed Macauley | Saint Louis | C | Junior |
| 1948–49 | Tony Lavelli | Yale | F | Senior |
| 1949–50 | Paul Arizin | Villanova | F | Senior |
| 1950–51 | Dick Groat | Duke | G | Junior |
| 1951–52 | Clyde Lovellette | Kansas | F / C | Senior |
| 1952–53 | Bob Houbregs | Washington | C | Senior |
| 1953–54 | Tom Gola | La Salle | G / F | Senior |
| 1954–55 | Bill Russell | San Francisco | C | Junior |
| 1955–56 | Bill Russell (2) | San Francisco | C | Senior |
| 1956–57 | Lennie Rosenbluth | North Carolina | F | Senior |
| 1957–58 | Elgin Baylor | Seattle | F / C | Junior |
| 1958–59 | Oscar Robertson | Cincinnati | G | Junior |
| 1959–60 | Oscar Robertson (2) | Cincinnati | G | Senior |
| 1960–61 | Jerry Lucas | Ohio State | F / C | Junior |
| 1961–62 | Paul Hogue | Cincinnati | C | Senior |
| 1962–63 | Art Heyman | Duke | G | Senior |
| 1963–64 | Walt Hazzard | UCLA | G | Senior |
| 1964–65$^†$ | Bill Bradley | Princeton | G / F | Senior |
| 1964–65$^†$ | Gail Goodrich | UCLA | G | Senior |
| 1965–66 | Cazzie Russell | Michigan | G / F | Senior |
| 1966–67 | Lew Alcindor | UCLA | C | Sophomore |
| 1967–68 | Lew Alcindor (2) | UCLA | C | Junior |
| 1968–69 | Lew Alcindor (3) | UCLA | C | Senior |
| 1969–70$^†$ | Pete Maravich | LSU | G | Senior |
| 1969–70$^†$ | Sidney Wicks | UCLA | F / C | Junior |
| 1970–71$^†$ | Austin Carr | Notre Dame | G | Senior |
| 1970–71$^†$ | Sidney Wicks (2) | UCLA | F / C | Senior |
| 1971–72 | Bill Walton | UCLA | C | Sophomore |
| 1972–73 | Bill Walton (2) | UCLA | C | Junior |
| 1973–74$^†$ | Bill Walton (3) | UCLA | C | Senior |
| 1973–74$^†$ | David Thompson | NC State | G / F | Junior |
| 1974–75 | David Thompson (2) | NC State | G / F | Senior |
| 1975–76$^†$ | Kent Benson | Indiana | C | Junior |
| 1975–76$^†$ | Scott May | Indiana | F | Senior |
| 1976–77 | Marques Johnson | UCLA | G | Senior |
| 1977–78 | Jack Givens | Kentucky | G / F | Senior |
| 1978–79 | Larry Bird | Indiana State | F | Senior |
| 1979–80 | Darrell Griffith | Louisville | G | Senior |
| 1980–81 | Mark Aguirre | DePaul | F | Sophomore |
| 1981–82$^†$ | Ralph Sampson | Virginia | C | Junior |
| 1981–82$^†$ | James Worthy | North Carolina | F | Junior |
| 1982–83 | Akeem Olajuwon | Houston | C | Sophomore |
* $^a$ Retroactive awards for 1905 to 1943.
* $^b$ Lew Alcindor later changed his named to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
* $^c$ Olajuwon later changed his first name's spelling from Akeem to Hakeem to use the original Arabic spelling.