SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – UCLA senior Thomas Welsh has been named as one of five finalists for this year's Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award, as announced Friday by the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame.



Named after Hall of Famer and three-time NCAA Champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who starred for the Bruins from 1967-69, this annual honor is in its fourth year and recognizes the top centers in men's college basketball. A national committee comprised of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates in October and narrowed the list to 10 candidates in February.



Welsh, who has averaged 12.8 points and 10.5 rebounds in 31 games, has emerged as one of five finalists. He is joined on the final five-man ballot by Isaac Haas (Purdue), Jock Landale (Saint Mary's), Angel Delgado (Seton Hall) and Brandon McCoy (UNLV).



A second-team All-Pac-12 selection and a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic Team honoree, Welsh has totaled 17 double-doubles in 31 games and currently ranks second in the Pac-12 in rebounds (10.5 rpg).



Welsh logged his team-leading 17th double-double in UCLA's 88-77 win over Stanford on Thursday. He has totaled 1,003 career rebounds, the fourth-highest total in school history. Welsh crossed the 1,000-career rebound milestone on Thursday afternoon in the team's 11-point victory against Stanford.



The five award finalists will be presented to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Hall of Fame's selection committee for the 2018 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award. The winner of this year's award will be honored at ESPN's College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy's in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, April 6. Broadcast information will be released at a later date.

