North Carolina State University Athletics
Yurtseven on Preseason Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Watch List
10/21/2016 10:14:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Center is one of four freshman on preseason watch list to honor top center in college basketball
NC State freshman center Omer Yurtseven was one of 20 centers selected to the 2017 preseason watch list for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, which was announced Friday by The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. A national committee comprised of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates.
Yurtseven was a consensus five-star prospect by 247Sports, Rivals and Scout. He comes to the Wolfpack from Istanbul, Turkey where he garnered extensive national team experience with his native country. He was named to the All-Star Five at the 2016 FIBA U-20 European Championship after helping lead Turkey to the bronze medal. He averaged a team-best 10.4 points per game and added 5.6 rebounds per game. In 2015, he averaged 9.8 points and 9.7 rebounds per game for the Turkey national team that finished runner-up at the FIBA U-18 European Championship. He averaged 15.1 points on 58 percent shooting, 8.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game for Turkey at the U-16 European Championship in 2014.
In the spring of 2016, Yurtseven scored 91 points and grabbed 28 rebounds in a single game. He connected on 39-of-his-60 field goal attempts, including five-three pointers.
Yurtseven is one of four freshman on the preseason watch list.
This year is the third season the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award has been given to the top center in college basketball.
The list will be narrowed down to 10 in mid-February and then five finalists will be selected in March that will be presented to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the selection committee. The winner of the award will be presented at the 3rd annual ESPN College Basketball Awards Show live from Club Nokia in Los Angeles on Friday, April 7th.
