Arizona California Basketball

Arizona center Oumar Ballo, center, shoots over California center Lars Thiemann, left, during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Berkeley, Calif., Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vรกsquez)

Arizona's Oumar Ballo was named Friday to a top 10 list for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, given to the top center in college basketball.

The list also includes Purdue's Zach Edey, the frontrunner for overall player of the year, and Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner, who faced Ballo in the Maui Invitational championship game on Nov. 23.

In Arizona's 81-79 win on Nov. 23 at the Lahaina Civic Center, Ballo had 30 points on 14-for-17 shooting and 13 rebounds while Kalkbrenner had 16 points and five rebounds while shooting 5 for 8 from the field.

For the season, Ballo is averaging 15.0 points and 9.7 rebounds while shooting 65.7% from two-point range, the 61st top percentage nationally. Ballo also ranks 17th in fouls drawn per 40 minutes (6.8) and 131st nationally in block percentage (5.4).

Others on the Abdul-Jabbar list included:

Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky

Hunter Dickinson, Michigan

Armando Bacot, North Carolina

Clifford Omoruyi, Rutgers

Joel Soriano, St. John's

Adama Sanogo, UConn

Jack Nunge, Xavier


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