SPRINGFIELD, Mass.– Gonzaga's Drew Timme was named one of the five finalists for the 2021 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced Thursday.
 
Gonzaga becomes the first program in the seven-year history of the Naismith Starting Five Awards to have four players named as finalists in the same season. Last season, three Zags were named finalists (Kispert- Erving, Tillie- Malone, Petrusev- Abdul-Jabbar), UCLA had three in 2016-17, and Duke had three in 2014-15.
 
Named after Class of 2010 Hall of Famer and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Karl Malone, the annual honor in its seventh year recognizes the top power forwards in Division I men's college basketball.
 
The five finalists for the 2021 Karl Malone Award are Drew Timme (Gonzaga), Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana), Justin Champagnie (Pittsburg), Sandro Mamukelashvili (Seton Hall) and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (Villanova).
 
Timme currently leads the West Coast Conference in scoring at 19.09 points per game, at a league-leading 64.9 percent from the field. He is third in the WCC making 66.5 percent from inside-the-arc. His 7.14 rebounds per game is also third in the conference. He has started all 22 games for GU, scoring in double digits 21 times. Timme has a team-high 11 20-point games this season, including a career-high 29 versus Virginia.
 
"We're excited to recognize these five tremendous power forwards as the best in the collegiate game today," said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Basketball Hall of Fame. "Nonetheless, only one can take home the award come April and we're grateful to have Karl Malone spearheading a committee that will take great care when evaluating these players in the games that matter most."
 
A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 student-athletes in November, which was narrowed to 10 candidates in January and now just five finalists. This month, the finalists will be presented to Mr. Malone and the Hall of Fame's selection committee. The winner of the 2021 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. Naismith Starting Five Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies will go live on Friday, February 26 on hoophallawards.com.
 
"I am thankful for the honor to annually present an award bearing my name," said Karl Malone, Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2010. "Over the past six years, we have recognized some truly gifted athletes who have gone on to have great success in the game. The player who is selected to join the fraternity of this award should be very proud to be in such elite company."
 
The winner of the 2021 Karl Malone Award will be presented on ESPN, along with the other four members of the Naismith Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Bob Cousy Point Guard Award, the Jerry West Shooting Guard Award, the Julius Erving Small Forward Award and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center Award, in addition to the Women's Starting Five. Additional information about the award presentation, including date and time, will be released in the coming weeks.
 
Previous winners of the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award include Obi Toppin, Dayton (2020), Zion Williamson, Duke (2019), Deandre Ayton, Arizona (2018), Johnathan Motley, Baylor (2017), Georges Niang, Iowa State (2016) and Montrezl Harrell, Louisville (2015).