🏀 Jalen Wilson Wins Julius Erving Award
HOUSTON – Kansas redshirt-junior Jalen Wilson has been named the recipient of the Julius Erving Award honoring the men’s basketball top small forward in NCAA Division I for the 2022-23 season. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced the honor and its Men’s Starting Five Saturday on ESPN College GameDay which originated from the Final Four in Houston for the announcement.
Named after Class of 1993 Hall of Famer and 16-year professional basketball player Julius Erving, the annual honor in its ninth year. Wilson has been on the Julius Erving Award watch lists since the beginning of the season. He was one of five finalists for the honor that included Brandon Miller (Alabama), Julian Strawther (Gonzaga), Keyontae Johnson (Kansas State) and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (UCLA).
“I am very honored to receive this award,” Wilson said. “Julius Erving is one of the greatest players of all time. I want to congratulate the other finalists on having great seasons. I want to thank Coach Self and the other coaches helping me become the player I am today. More importantly, I want to thank my teammates, my brothers, who pushed me every day. Though we did not achieve our ultimate goal, we did have a great season, winning the Big 12 in the toughest conference in the nation. Playing at Kansas is a blessing and winning this award represents KU as much as me.”
One of four Naismith Trophy and one of five Wooden Award finalists, Wilson is Kansas’ 32nd all-time Consensus All-America First Team honoree. The unanimous Big 12 Player of the Year and All-Big 12 First Team selection, Wilson led the Big 12 in scoring at 20.1 points per game, rebounds at 8.3 and double-doubles with 12. The Denton, Texas, forward posted three 30-point performances and had 22 games of 20 or more points scored this season, including each of his last seven contests. Wilson is the seventh player in Big 12 history to lead the league in scoring and rebounding in the same season, including the fourth Jayhawk to earn the distinction.
On nearly every national player of the year watch list, Wilson is just the 10th player in Kansas men’s basketball history to record 1,400-plus career points and 800-plus career rebounds and the first since Perry Ellis (2013-16). Wilson’s 1,475 points rank 27th on the KU career list and his 802 rebounds are 14th in school history. Wilson’s 28 career double-doubles are ninth on the KU all-time list.
Previous winners of the Julius Erving Award are Wendell Moore Jr., Duke (2022), Corey Kispert, Gonzaga (2021), Saddiq Bey, Villanova (2020), Rui Hachimura, Gonzaga (2019), Mikal Bridges, Villanova (2018), Josh Hart, Villanova (2017), Denzel Valentine, Michigan State (2016) and Stanley Johnson, Arizona (2015).
The Julius Erving Award is one of the Hall of Fame’s Men’s Starting Five honors. Other awards presented include the Bob Cousy Award (Point Guard), Jerry West Award (Shooting Guard), Karl Malone Award (Power Forward) and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award (Center). Kansas’ Frank Mason III was the 2017 recipient of the Bob Cousy Award.
Jalen Wilson 2022-23 Honors
Julius Erving Award Recipient
Consensus All-America First Team
Wooden Award Finalist (1 of 5)
Wooden Award All-AmericanNaismith Trophy Finalist (1 of 4)
USBWA All-America First Team
NABC All-America First Team
Associated Press All-America First Team
USBWA All-District VI Player of the Year
USBWA All-District VI Team
NABC All-District 8 First Team
Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team
The Sporting News All-America First Team
Big 12 Player of the Year (unanimous selection)
All-Big 12 First Team (unanimous selection)
Oscar Robertson Trophy Late Season Watch List (1 of 15)
Big 12 Player of the Week (12.5.22)
Battle 4 Atlantis All-Tournament Team
Preseason All-Big 12
