# The Sporting News Men's College Basketball Player of the Year

The Sporting News Men's College Basketball Player of the Year is an annual basketball award given to the best men's basketball player in NCAA Division I competition. The award was first given following the 1942–43 season and is presented by The Sporting News (known from 2002–2022 as Sporting News), an American–based sports magazine that was established in 1886.
No award winners were selected from 1947 to 1949 and from 1952 to 1957. Repeat winners of The Sporting News Player of the Year award are rare; as of 2024, it has occurred only eight times. Of those eight repeat winners, only Oscar Robertson of Cincinnati and Bill Walton of UCLA have been named the player of the year three times.
UCLA and Duke have the most all-time awards, each with seven. North Carolina has the second-most awards with five.
Duke has the most individual recipients, with all seven of its awards going to different players. North Carolina and UCLA, with four recipients each, are second by that measure.

## Key

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

## Winners

| Season | Player | School | Position | Class |
| 1942–43 | Andy Phillip | Illinois | G / F | Senior |
| 1943–44 | Dale Hall | Army | F | Junior |
| 1944–45 | George Mikan | DePaul | C | Junior |
| 1945–46 | Bob Kurland | Oklahoma A&M | C | Senior |
| 1947–49 | No winners selected | No winners selected | No winners selected | No winners selected |
| 1949–50 | Paul Arizin | Villanova | F | Senior |
| 1950–51 | Sherman White | Long Island | F | Senior |
| 1952–57 | No winners selected | No winners selected | No winners selected | No winners selected |
| 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 | Bill Bradley | Princeton | SF / SG | Junior |
| 1964–65 | Bill Bradley (2) | Princeton | SF / SG | Senior |
| 1965–66 | Cazzie Russell | Michigan | SG | Senior |
| 1966–67 | Lew Alcindor | UCLA | C | Sophomore |
| 1967–68 | Elvin Hayes | Houston | F / C | Senior |
| 1968–69 | Lew Alcindor (2) | UCLA | C | Senior |
| 1969–70 | Pete Maravich | LSU | G | Senior |
| 1970–71 | Sidney Wicks | UCLA | 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 |
| 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 | Phil Ford | North Carolina | PG | Senior |
| 1978–79 | Larry Bird | Indiana State | SF | Senior |
| 1979–80 | Darrell Griffith | Louisville | SG | Senior |
| 1980–81 | Mark Aguirre | DePaul | SF | Junior |
| 1981–82 | Ralph Sampson | Virginia | C | Junior |
| 1982–83 | Michael Jordan | North Carolina | SG | Sophomore |
| 1983–84 | Michael Jordan (2) | North Carolina | SG | Junior |
| 1984–85 | Patrick Ewing | Georgetown | C | 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 | Stacey King | Oklahoma | C | Senior |
| 1989–90 | Dennis Scott | Georgia Tech | SF | Junior |
| 1990–91 | Larry Johnson | UNLV | PF | Senior |
| 1991–92 | Christian Laettner | Duke | F | Senior |
| 1992–93 | Calbert Cheaney | Indiana | SF | Senior |
| 1993–94 | Glenn Robinson | Purdue | SF / PF | Sophomore |
| 1994–95 | Shawn Respert | Michigan State | SG | Senior |
| 1995–96 | Marcus Camby | Massachusetts | C | Junior |
| 1996–97 | Tim Duncan | Wake Forest | C | Senior |
| 1997–98 | Antawn Jamison | North Carolina | SF | Junior |
| 1998–99 | Elton Brand | Duke | C | Sophomore |
| 1999–00 | Kenyon Martin | Cincinnati | PF | Senior |
| 2000–01 | Shane Battier | Duke | SF / SG | Senior |
| 2001–02 | Jason Williams | Duke | PG | Junior |
| 2002–03 | T. J. Ford | Texas | PG | Sophomore |
| 2003–04 | Jameer Nelson | Saint Joseph's | PG | Senior |
| 2004–05 | Dee Brown | Illinois | PG | Junior |
| 2005–06 | JJ Redick | Duke | SG | Senior |
| 2006–07 | Kevin Durant | Texas | SF | Freshman |
| 2007–08 | Tyler Hansbrough | North Carolina | PF | Junior |
| 2008–09 | Blake Griffin | Oklahoma | PF | Sophomore |
| 2009–10 | Evan Turner | Ohio State | SF | Junior |
| 2010–11 | Jimmer Fredette | Brigham Young | PG | Senior |
| 2011–12 | Anthony Davis | Kentucky | C | Freshman |
| 2012–13 | Victor Oladipo | Indiana | G | Junior |
| 2013–14 | Doug McDermott | Creighton | SF | Senior |
| 2014–15 | Frank Kaminsky | Wisconsin | PF | Senior |
| 2015–16 | Buddy Hield | Oklahoma | SG | Senior |
| 2016–17 | Frank Mason III | Kansas | PG | Senior |
| 2017–18 | Jalen Brunson | Villanova | PG | Junior |
| 2018–19 | Zion Williamson | Duke | PF | Freshman |
| 2019–20 | Luka Garza | Iowa | C | Junior |
| 2020–21 | Luka Garza (2) | Iowa | C | Senior |
| 2021–22 | Oscar Tshiebwe | Kentucky | PF/C | Junior |
| 2022–23 | Zach Edey | Purdue | C | Junior |
| 2023–24 | Zach Edey (2) | Purdue | C | Senior |
| 2024–25 | Johni Broome | Auburn | PF/C | Senior |

## Winners by school

| School | Winners | Years |
| Duke | 7 | 1963, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2019 |
| UCLA | 7 | 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977 |
| North Carolina | 5 | 1978, 1983, 1984, 1998, 2008 |
| Cincinnati | 4 | 1958, 1959, 1960, 2000 |
| Indiana | 3 | 1976, 1993, 2013 |
| Ohio State | 3 | 1961, 1962, 2010 |
| Oklahoma | 3 | 1989, 2009, 2016 |
| Purdue | 3 | 1994, 2023, 2024 |
| DePaul | 2 | 1945, 1981 |
| Illinois | 2 | 1943, 2005 |
| Iowa | 2 | 2020, 2021 |
| Kentucky | 2 | 2012, 2022 |
| Princeton | 2 | 1964, 1965 |
| Texas | 2 | 2003, 2007 |
| Villanova | 2 | 1950, 2018 |
| Army | 1 | 1944 |
| Auburn | 1 | 2025 |
| Bradley | 1 | 1988 |
| Brigham Young | 1 | 2011 |
| Creighton | 1 | 2014 |
| Georgetown | 1 | 1985 |
| Georgia Tech | 1 | 1990 |
| Houston | 1 | 1968 |
| Indiana State | 1 | 1979 |
| Kansas | 1 | 2017 |
| Long Island | 1 | 1951 |
| Louisville | 1 | 1980 |
| LSU | 1 | 1970 |
| Massachusetts | 1 | 1996 |
| Michigan | 1 | 1966 |
| Michigan State | 1 | 1995 |
| Navy | 1 | 1987 |
| N.C. State | 1 | 1975 |
| Oklahoma State | 1 | 1946 |
| Saint Joseph's | 1 | 2004 |
| St. John's | 1 | 1986 |
| UNLV | 1 | 1991 |
| Virginia | 1 | 1982 |
| Wake Forest | 1 | 1997 |
| Wisconsin | 1 | 2015 |

## Footnotes

* ↑ At the time of White's award, Long Island University consisted solely of what is now the institution's Brooklyn campus. In 2019, LIU merged the Brooklyn athletic program with the NCAA Division II program of its Post campus, creating a new D-I program that competes as the LIU Sharks. The Sharks inherited the men's basketball history of the Brooklyn campus.
* 1 2 Lew Alcindor changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1971 after converting to Islam.