Country United States First awarded 1943 | Presented by Sporting News magazine | |
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Awarded for the most outstanding NCAA Division I men's basketball player Currently held by Frank Mason III, Kansas | ||
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 Sporting News (formerly The Sporting News), an American–based sports magazine that was established in 1886.
No award winners were selected from 1947–49 and from 1952–57. Repeat winners of the Sporting News Player of the Year award are rare; as of 2016, it has occurred only six times in the award's 63 presentations. Of those six repeat winners, only Oscar Robertson of Cincinnati and Bill Walton of UCLA have been named the player of the year three times.
Despite not claiming any winners since the 1976–77 season, UCLA still has the most all-time with seven. Duke has the second most with six, while their in-state rival North Carolina has the third most with five winners.