March 10, 2016

Ellis a Final Five Candidate for Karl Malone Award

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Kansas senior forward Perry Ellis has been named one of five finalists for the 2016 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced Thursday. Ellis is a final five candidate for the second consecutive year.

Joining Ellis as finalists are Jarrod Uthoff (Iowa), Georges Niang (Iowa State), Brice Johnson (North Carolina) and Jameel Warney (Stony Brook). Ellis and Kansas teammate Wayne Selden Jr., are finalists for two of the five Basketball Hall of Fame positional awards. Selden is a Julius Erving Small Forward for the Year Award finalist.

The winner of the 2016 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award will be determined by a combination of fan votes and input from the Basketball Hall of Fame’s selection committee. Fans are encouraged to visit HoophallAwards.com to cast their votes from March 11-25.

A Wichita native, Ellis is coming off back-to-back 20-point performances with 20 points at Texas (2/29) and 22 points against Iowa State (3/5) on his senior night. The two efforts garnered Ellis with the final 2015-16 Big 12 Player of the Week honor as he has 11 20-point efforts this season.

Named All-Big 12 First Team for the second straight year and numerous 2015-16 All-American squads, Ellis leads Kansas in scoring (16.5 ppg) and is second in rebounding (6.0 rpg). Ellis has nine games of scoring 19 or more points in Big 12 play this season, including seven 20-point efforts and overall he ranks third in the league in scoring and ninth in rebounding. He also ranks among the Big 12 leaders in field goal percentage (fifth at 52.1) and free throw percentage (12th at 76.3). Ellis averaged 17.7 points and 5.8 rebounds during Big 12 play in 2015-16.

Named after Hall of Famer and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Karl Malone, the annual honor in its second year recognizes the top power forwards in Division I men’s college basketball. A committee comprised of top college basketball personnel narrowed the original watch list of 20 candidates down to 10 and now the final five.

The winner of the 2016 Karl Malone Power Award will be awarded at ESPN’s College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy’s from Club Nokia in Los Angeles on Friday, April 8, 2016. The Awards will be televised live on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. (Central).

No. 1/1 Kansas (27-4, 15-3) won its unprecedented 12th-straight Big 12 regular-season championship in 2015-16. It was KU’s 16th Big 12 and NCAA-leading 59th overall conference regular-season title. Kansas will next play No. 8 seed Kansas State in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, today, March 10, at 1:30 p.m. (Central) at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The contest will be televised on ESPN2. Kansas has won 13 conference postseason tournament titles, including nine in the Big 12 era.

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