UGA Basketball's Asa Newell Named Top-10 Candidate For Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award
ATHENS — Georgia’s Asa Newell was named as a top-10 candidate for the 2025 Kareem Abdul-Jabar Award by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday. The award annually honors the top center in Division I men’s basketball.
Newell, a 6-11, 220-pound freshman, leads the Bulldogs and ranks among SEC leaders in scoring and rebounding. He is averaging 15.3 points per game, 14th-best in the league, and 6.9 rebounds per contest, 11th-best in the conference. Newell also is ranked No. 3 in the SEC in field goal percentage at .552. Among freshmen nationally, Newell is No. 10 in scoring, No. 11 in rebounding – including No. 1 in offensive rebounds per game – No. 3 in field goal percentage and No. 8 in double-doubles (five).
Newell has been named SEC Freshman of the Week three times this season, one shy of Anthony Edwards’ school record of four recognitions. Newell has been a model of consistency for the Bulldogs, with 21 double-figure performances in 23 games, including a pair of 20-point outing. He christened his collegiate career with a season-best 26 points against Tennessee Tech in the season opener, equaling Dominique Wilkins’ Georgia scoring record for a freshman in their debut. Newell has led Georgia in points in 15 games and in rebounds 10 times. He has paced the Bulldogs in both stats in eight contests, including six of 10 SEC outings.
Last week, Newell was featured on The Athletic’s Freshman All-America team along with Cooper Flagg from Duke, Dylan Harper from Rutgers, Kasparas Jakucionis from Illinois and Tahaad Pettiford from Auburn.
The other nine candidates for the Abdul-Jabbar Award are Nate Bittle from Oregon, Robbie Avila from Saint Louis, Oscar Cluff from South Dakota State, Hunter Dickinson from Kansas, Dawson Garcia from Minnesota, Vladislav Goldin from Michigan, Ryan Kalkbrenner from Creighton, Derik Queen from Maryland and Maxime Raynaud from Stanford.
Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting in both of the remaining rounds starting today (Feb. 7) on hoophallawards.com. The Fan Vote will count as one committee vote during the finalist selection process.
The winner of the 2025 Abdul-Jabbar Award and the Lisa Leslie Award, which is given to the top center in women’s basketball, will be presented on a to-be-determined date, along with the other four members of the Men’s and Women’s Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Bob Cousy and Nancy Lieberman Awards (Point Guard), Jerry West and Ann Meyers Drysdale Awards (Shooting Guard), Julius Erving and Cheryl Miller Awards (Small Forward), and the Karl Malone and Katrina McClain Awards (Power Forward).
Newell is the third Georgia player in the past nine years to be a top-10 candidate for one of the Hall of Fame’s position player of the year awards, following Anthony Edwards (Jerry West Award in 2020) and Yante Maten (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award in 2017).
Newell is one of 10 SEC players among the top-10 candidates for the five position player of the year awards, joining Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr., Alabama’s Mark Sears and Tennessee’s Zakai Zeigler (Bob Cousy Award), Texas’ Tre Johnson, Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier and Florida’s Alijah Martin (Jerry West Award), Auburn’s Chad Baker-Mazara and Kentucky’s Jaxson Robinson (Julius Erving Award) and Auburn’s Johni Broome (Karl Malone Award).
In March, the Top 10 list will be narrowed to just five, and in late March, the five finalists will be presented to Abdul-Jabbar, Lisa Leslie and the Hall of Fame’s selection committees, where winners will be selected. The Selection Committees for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Lisa Leslie Awards are composed of top men’s and women’s college basketball personnel, including media members, head coaches, sports information directors, and Hall of Famers.
Previous winners of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award are Zach Edey, Purdue (2023-24), Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky (2022), Luka Garza, Iowa (2020-21), Ethan Happ, Wisconsin (2019), Angel Delgado, Seton Hall (2018), Przemek Karnowski, Gonzaga (2017), Jakob Poeltl, Utah (2016), and Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin (2015).