PJ Hall One of 10 Candidates for the 2024 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award

Top Ten Collegiate Centers Named as Candidates for the “Naismith Starting Five”

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The Basketball Hall of Fame announced the Top 10 candidates for the 2024 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award. Among the 10 was Clemson University men’s basketball senior PJ Hall (Spartanburg, S.C./Dorman).

Named after Class of 1995 Hall of Famer and three-time NCAA Champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the annual honor, in its 10th year, recognizes the top center in Division I men’s college basketball.

2024 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Candidates
Johni Broome, Auburn
PJ Hall, Clemson
Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton
Hunter Dickinson, Kansas
Dawson Garcia, Minnesota
Armando Bacot, North Carolina
Zach Edey, Purdue
Joel Soriano, St. John’s
Donovan Clingan, UConn
Branden Carlson, Utah

Hall is second in the ACC in scoring with 19.9 points per game, while ranking 11th in rebounding (7.1 per game). He is shooting at a very high clip this season, fifth in the league (50.9 percent). Defensively, Hall is second in the ACC and is 40th nationally in blocks per game (1.90) and has 38 blocked shots this season.

He was named ACC Player of the Week (Dec. 4) and has been named to the Lute Olson Award Watch List as well.

Hall, who was named to the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 Watch List and the Midseason Top 25 has extended his double-digit scoring streak to 30 consecutive games dating back to last season. He is one of just three players in the country averaging at least 19.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 blocks per game this year (Zach Edey, Purdue; Drew Pember, UNC Asheville).

The Spartanburg, S.C. native has posted five double-doubles this season, including career highs in points (31) rebounds (17) against Georgia Tech. In half of Clemson’s 20 games played this season, Hall has produced 20+ points.

Previous winners of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award are Zach Edey, Purdue (2023), 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).

For more information on the 2024 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award and the latest updates, visit hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophallU and #KareemAward on Twitter and Instagram.