# 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.
Five players—Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas, Lew Alcindor, Bill Walton and Ralph Sampson—won the award multiple times. Among them, 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.

## Key

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

## Winners

| 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 | 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 | 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 | Junior |
| 1994–95 | Joe Smith | Maryland | C | Sophomore |
| 1995–96 | Ray Allen | UConn | SG | Junior |
* $^a$ Lew Alcindor changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1971 after converting to Islam.