Courtesy of Utah State Athletics
LOGAN, Utah – No. 20 Utah State men’s basketball junior wing Great Osobor has been named a finalist for the 2023-24 Lute Olson National Player of the Year award. The award is presented annually to the top player in division I college basketball.
The award is named in honor of Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson, who won 776 games in 34 seasons, 24 of which were spent at the University of Arizona. During that stretch he led the Wildcats to 11 Pac-10 Conference titles, 23 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, four Final Four appearances and a National Championship in 1997.
The recipient of the annual award is determined by a 10-member voting committee, which consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of collegeinsider.com.
The 2024 award will be announced in Phoenix, Arizona, site of the men’s Division I Basketball Championship.
Osobor was most recently named an Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American. Osobor is the eighth Aggie men’s basketball player to be recognized as an All-American by the AP and the first since Neemias Queta was an honorable mention All-American in 2021.
Osobor was named the Mountain West Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, along with earning first-team all-conference accolades. Osobor was also named first-team all-district by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
Osobor has started all 33 games he has played in during his first season at Utah State. He leads the team in scoring (18.0), rebounding (9.2), blocks (1.5), field goal percentage (.583), free throws made (174) and attempted (275), and is second on the team in minutes played (33.8), assists (2.88) and steals (1.30).
His 15 double-doubles are the most in the Mountain West and tied for the 20th-most in the nation. Osobor’s 593 points this season are the 19th-most in school history, his 302 rebounds are the 16th-most, his 50 blocks are the seventh-most, his 174 free throws are the sixth-most, his 275 free throw attempts are the third-most and his 1,114 minutes are the 17th-most.
Utah State (27-6, 14-4 MW) will be making its 24th NCAA Tournament appearance all-time, including its 12th in the last 25 years, when the eighth-seeded Aggies face ninth-seeded TCU in the first round of the Midwest Region on Friday, March 22, in Indianapolis, Indiana. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:55 p.m. (MT) and will be broadcast live on TBS.
Utah State men’s basketball news and information is available on Facebook (facebook.com/usumensbasketball), on Twitter (@usubasketball) and on Instagram (@usubasketball). Fans can also get USU men’s basketball highlights on YouTube (youtube.com/utahstateathletics). Aggie fans can follow the Utah State athletic program on Twitter (@usuathletics), on Facebook (facebook.com/usuathletics) or on Instagram (@usuathletics).
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