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SALT LAKE CITY — Let the college basketball awards season begin.
On Monday, Utah center Jakob Poeltl was named the Pac-12's Player of the Year and a USA Today First-Team All-American, joining Oklahoma's Buddy Hield, North Carolina's Brice Johnson, Kentucky's Tyler Ulis, and Michigan State's Denzel Valentine.
Poeltl becomes the first Ute to win the Pac-12 Player of the Year honor and the ninth Ute to win a conference Player of the Year award in school history. The first-team All-American honor is likely the first of many for Poeltl, who finished the regular season averaging 17.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.6 blocks per game. He recorded 14 double-doubles on the season, with five of those coming in the last six games.
"I am obviously honored," Poeltl said in a prepared statement. "I have always said that individual awards are not really what I am (playing) for and I am more about the team. I hope that our team is playing well, but being named the Pac-12 Player of the Year is a great honor."
"It's a little bit daunting to think about where we'd be without him," head coach Larry Krystkowiak said Monday morning.
Spoken like a true coach, though, Krystkowiak said he doesn't want to pat anybody on the back and distract from the team aspect. However, he added that he's "extremely proud" of Poeltl for his accomplishments.
"I think it's a heck of a story and one that should probably be talked about more about the benefits of staying another year in school," he said. "I'm proud of the fact that we've had him and I think he's done a great job, but the challenge still lies ahead of us. I think everybody knows that I'm not real excited about patting anybody on the back with some of those things."
The sophomore center was also named to the All-Pac-12 First Team and was an honorable mention to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team. The only other player named to a conference honor was senior guard Brandon Taylor, who was named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team and as the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Taylor and Jordan Loveridge were named honorable mentions to the All-Pac-12 Team.
Poeltl is a finalist for the Oscar Robertson Trophy and John R. Wooden Award, and a semifinalist for the Naismith Trophy. Each of the previously mentioned honors will be awarded in late March or early April.
Poeltl is a projected lottery pick at No. 6 in the upcoming NBA Draft, according to Draft Express. Poeltl told media last week that he was "thinking about going to the draft" but will not make a final decision until after the season is over.
Other awards given in the conference include Cal's Jaylen Brown as the Freshman of the Year, Oregon State's Gary Payton II as Defensive Player of the Year, Colorado's George King as the Most Improved Player of the Year and Oregon head coach Dana Altman as the Coach of the Year.
