Bona Selected to Naismith Trophy Preseason Watch List
November 06, 2023 | Men's Basketball
ATLANTA โ UCLA sophomore Adem Bona has been selected to the preseason watch list for the Naismith Trophy Men's Player of the Year Award, as announced on Monday by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
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The Naismith Trophy's preseason watch list includes 50 of the top players this season in men's college basketball.
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Last month, Bona was listed as one of 20 top power forwards to the Karl Malone Award Power Forward of the Year watch list. Standing at 6-foot-10, Bona was honored last season as the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. He averaged 7.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 33 games (32 starts). Bona arrived at UCLA in the summer of 2022, having secured McDonald's All-America acclaim as a senior at Prolific Prep in Napa, Calif.
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Bona, who grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, ranked No. 2 in the Pac-12 in field goal percentage last season (67.5%) and was one of five players to earn Pac-12 All-Freshman team honors. He was also recognized as one of five players on the league's All-Defensive Team. Bona's single-season shooting percentage (67.5%) ranked No. 3 on the school's single-season record list, with a minimum of 75 shots made during a season.
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Bona is one of six players from the Pac-12 Conference named to the 50-person watch list for this year's Naismith Trophy Men's Player of the Year Award. From the Pac-12, he joins USC's Boogie Ellis and Isaiah Collier, Colorado's Tristan da Silva and Arizona's Oumar Ballo and Caleb Love on the preseason list.
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UCLA's program has had three players win the Naismith Trophy a total of five times. Lew Alcindor, now known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, was honored as the Naismith Trophy in 1969, the first year of the annual college basketball award. Bill Walton was the winner of the Naismith Trophy in 1972, 1973 and 1974. Marques Johnson won the Naismith Trophy as a senior with the Bruins in 1977.
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The UCLA men's basketball team opens its regular-season schedule against Saint Francis University on Monday, Nov. 6. Game time in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom is set for 8:30 p.m. (PT). UCLA's contest will be televised by the Pac-12 Network.
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