CU's Scott Leads Pac-12 Cadre Of Elite Big Men

BOULDER — The era when big men dominated the game of basketball may be over — but there are still a few of them making waves in the college game.

The Pac-12 has more than its share. Four of the 20 candidates for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award play in the conference, with three — Colorado's Josh Scott, Utah's Jacob Poeltl and Washington State's Josh Hawkinson — currently among the top five statistical leaders. (The fourth, Arizona's Kaleb Tarczewski, hasn't played for more than a month because of a foot injury, and would have to have a terrific conference season to put himself back in the running.)

CU's Scott currently tops the watch list scoring chart, averaging 18.4 points per game; and is seventh in rebounding (9.4 rpg). Evansville's Egidijus Mockevicius is second in scoring (18.0 ppg) and leads the list in rebounding with 13.6 per game.

Poeltl, meanwhile is third in scoring (17.8 ppg) and sixth in rebounding (9.7 rpg), while WSU's Hawkinson is fifth in scoring (16.5) and third in rebounding (10.5). Hawkinson was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week last week after recording three consecutive double-doubles in losses to Oklahoma and Northern Iowa and a win over New Mexico.

Cal coach Cuonzo Martin's Bears will have the pleasure of facing both Scott and Poeltl this weekend when Colorado and Utah make their annual trips through the Bay Area. Colorado plays at Cal on Friday (9 p.m., Pac-12 Networks) and at Stanford on Sunday (8 p.m., ESPNU); Utah plays at Stanford on Friday and at Cal on Sunday.

“(Scott) is playing tremendous basketball,” Martin said Tuesday. “He makes shots, he makes passes, scores the basketball, runs the floor in transition and he's got a tremendous level of intelligence. He's just a tremendous player.”

Martin also has a standout big man on his team in Ivan Rabb. The 6-11, 220-pound Rabb — who turned down an offer to Kentucky to play at Cal — isn't on the Abdul-Jabbar Award watch list, but is averaging 12.4 points and nine rebounds for the 10-3 Bears.

During Tuesday's media conference call with the league's coaches, several coaches noted that true big men are becoming fewer and fewer because, as Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins noted, “the game has changed so much.” Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak even went as far as to call Poeltl a “throwback.”

But, those same coaches also said the players such as Scott and Poeltl could have played in any era.

“(Scott) could have played 20 years ago and he can play today,” Martin said. “He could play at any time.”

Scott and Poeltl will see each other at least twice this season, with the first coming Jan. 8 in Boulder and the second coming March 5 in Salt Lake City. The first Scott-Hawkinson matchup of the season will come Jan. 23 in Pullman, with the return engagement in Boulder scheduled for Feb. 11.

The Abdul-Jabbar Award watch list will be narrowed down from 20 to 10 in mid-February. In March, the award committee will select five finalists to present to Abdul-Jabbar and the Naismith Hall of Fame selection committee. The winner will be announced on April 8 at the ESPN College Basketball Awards ceremony.

Last year's winner was Wisconsin center Frank Kaminsky, while other finalists included Duke's Jahlil Okafor and Kentucky's Willie Cauley-Stein.

KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR WATCH LIST

Josh Scott, Colorado

Jakob Poeltl, Utah

Devin Williams, West Virginia

Egidijus Mockevicius, Evansville

Josh Hawkinson, Washington State

Joel Bolomboy, Weber State

Zach Auguste, Notre Dame

Jameel McKay, Iowa State

Kennedy Meeks, North Carolina

AJ Hammons, Purdue