SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Missouri State senior Alize Johnson was announced Thursday as one of the 20 candidates for the 2018 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award.
The award is coordinated by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and named after Hall of Famer and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Karl Malone. The annual honor in its fourth year recognizes the top power forwards in Division I men’s college basketball. A national committee comprised of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates.
Johnson was the 2017 Newcomer of the Year in the Missouri Valley Conference and attended a pre-draft workout with the Boston Celtics in April. In 2016-17, Johnson also earned All-MVC first-team and NABC All-District honors while being named to the MVC All-Tournament Team. He was a two-time Valley Player of the Week and six-time Valley Newcomer of the Week in his first campaign in Springfield.
After transferring to Missouri State from Frank Phillips (Texas) College, the native of Williamsport, Pa., led the conference in rebounding at 10.6 per game, which ranked 11th nationally. He also led MSU in scoring at 14.8 points per game while producing 17 double-doubles -– the 15th-most in the nation — and 21 double-figure rebounding games. He also finished with the second-highest season rebounding total of Missouri State’s Division I era (351) while converting 48.8 percent of his field goals and 39 percent of his 3-point attempts.
“With this award, we have been able to recognize some extraordinarily talented student-athletes in college basketball over the past three seasons,” said Malone, a 2010 inductee of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. “It is an honor to be associated with such an award and I hope the young men named to this watch list feel a sense of pride in being recognized for their efforts.”
By mid-February, the watch list of 20 players will be narrowed to just 10 with five finalists announced in March. The winner of the 2018 Karl Malone Award will be presented at the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show presented by Wendy’s in Los Angeles April 6.
Previous winners of the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award include Johnathan Motley, Baylor (2017), Georges Niang, Iowa State (2016) and Montrezl Harrell, Louisville (2015).
Joining Johnson on this year’s watch list are: Nana Foulland (Bucknell), Gary Clark Jr. (Cincinnati), Marvin Bagley III (Duke), Wendell Carter Jr. (Duke), Nick Mayo (Eastern Kentucky), Yante Maten (Georgia), Rokas Gustys (Hofstra), P.J. Washington (Kentucky), Moritz Wagner (Michigan), Jordan Murphy (Minnesota), Bonzie Colson (Notre Dame), Mike Daum (South Dakota State), Reid Travis (Stanford), Obi Enechionyia (Temple), Dylan Osetkowski (Texas), Robert Williams (Texas A&M), Zach Smith (Texas Tech), William Lee (UAB), and Bennie Boatwright (USC).
