Tennessee junior Grant Williams is one of 21 players on the 2019 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award watch list, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced Thursday.
Named after Hall of Famer and former Louisiana Tech standout Karl Malone, the annual honor now in its fifth year recognizes the top power forward in Division I basketball. Previous winners include Deandre Ayton of Arizona (2018), Johnathan Motley of Baylor (2017), Georges Niang of Iowa State (2016) and Montrezl Harrell of Louisville (2015).
Williams is one of five SEC power forwards on the 21-man watch list (complete list below), which will be narrowed to 10 by mid-February. In March, the names of five finalists will be presented to Malone and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee. The winner of the 2019 Karl Malone Award will be announced at the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show after the Final Four in April.
The reigning SEC Player of the Year—bestowed by both the league’s head coached and the Associated Press—Williams last season led the SEC Champion Volunteers in scoring (15.2 ppg), was second in blocks (44) and rebounding (6.0 rpg) and finished fourth in assists (66).
The Charlotte, North Carolina, native ranked ninth in the SEC in scoring (16.1 ppg) and ninth in shooting percentage (.463) during league play despite being regularly double-teamed.
Through two seasons with the Vols, Williams is only 67 points (933) shy of joining Tennessee’s 48-member 1,000-Point Club and currently ranks just outside the top 10 on UT’s all-time career lists for offensive rebounds (14th with 175) and blocks (15th with 105).
For more information on the 2019 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award and the latest updates, log onto www.hoophallawards.com, follow @hoophall on Twitter and Instagram or search #MaloneAward.
Williams’ inclusion on the Karl Malone Award watch list makes him the third Tennessee returning starter to be named to one of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s college awards watch lists. Jordan Bone is on the initial watch list for the 2019 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award, and Admiral Schofield is a candidate for the 2019 Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year.
2019 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award Watch List
Yoeli Childs, BYU
Zion Williamson, Duke
Juwan Morgan, Indiana
Dedric Lawson, Kansas
Dean Wade, Kansas State
Reid Travis, Kentucky
P.J. Washington, Kentucky
Jordan Murphy, Minnesota
Jordan Brown, Nevada
Luke Maye, North Carolina
Drew McDonald, Northern Kentucky
Chris Silva, South Carolina
Mike Daum, South Dakota State
Grant Williams, Tennessee
Devontae Cacok, UNC Wilmington
Bennie Boatwright, USC
Simisola Shittu, Vanderbilt
Eric Paschall, Villanova
Noah Dickerson, Washington
Sagaba Konate, West Virginia
Candidates can play their way onto and off of the list at any point during the season
-UT Athletics
