Country United States Official website Official website | First awarded 1975 | |
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Awarded for the most outstanding NCAA men's basketball players in all levels of competition Presented by NABC
State Farm Insurance Currently held by Denzel Valentine, Michigan State | ||
The NABC Player of the Year is an award given annually by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) to recognize the top player in men's college basketball. The award has been given since the 1974–75 season to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I basketball players. The association added awards for Division II and Division III players in 1983, and for National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and junior college players in 2008. The awards are sponsored by State Farm Insurance.
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In Division I, Duke has the most all-time winners with five. Their rival, North Carolina, is second with four winners. There have been three ties for NABC Player of the Year (2002, 2004, 2006), and only two players have won the award multiple times (Jay Williams and Ralph Sampson).
In Division II, Virginia Union has four winners, the most all-time, and is followed by Kentucky Wesleyan which has three. Only one tie has occurred (2006), while three players have won the award more than once (Stan Gouard, Earl Jones, John Smith).
In Division III, Potsdam State has the most all-time winners with three, while six other schools are tied for second with two winners apiece. There have been two ties (2007, 2010) and three repeat winners (Leroy Witherspoon, Andrew Olson and Aaron Walton-Moss).
At the NAIA level, there is a distinction between NAIA Division I and NAIA Division II winners. Since the awards began in 2008, no school or individual player has received the award multiple times.
In junior college, every winner has been a sophomore and has gone on to play at an NCAA Division I school after their community college careers have ended.
State Farm NAIA Players of the Year
For the 2007–08 season, Ryan Fiegi, a senior point guard at Oregon Tech, was named the player of the year. Beginning in 2008–09, the NAIA began awarding players of the year for Divisions I and II.
State Farm Junior College Player of the Year
Since community college players only attend for two years, these players are only either freshmen or sophomores. Afterwards, they move on to a four year university to finish their last two seasons of NCAA eligibility. The "University" column reflects which team these players would play for following their JuCo careers.