CHICAGO (November 6, 2020) – Cameron Krutwig (Algonquin, Ill./Jacobs), a standout center on the Loyola University Chicago men's basketball team, has been named to the 2021 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Watch List, it was announced today. 
 
This is the second time in his career that the 6-foot-9 senior has been selected to the 20-player watch list. The Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award recognizes the top center in college basketball. A national committee of top collegiate basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates.
 
A three-time All-Missouri Valley Conference honoree, including a first-team pick in each of the last two years, the versatile big man averaged 15.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.6 blocked per game in 2019-20, while also draining 56.3 percent (201-for-357) of his field goal attempts. Krutwig became the first player in the storied history of the Missouri Valley Conference to rank in the top five in the league in scoring, rebounding, assists and field goal percentage and his 4.2 assists per contest led all centers in NCAA Division I basketball.
 
Krutwig, who also excels in the classroom and was a CoSIDA Academic All-District 5 pick a season ago, enters the 2020-21 campaign with 1,384 points and 737 rebounds to his credit and is one of only seven players in program history to accumulate at least 1,300 points and 700 boards in his career. In a victory over Vanderbilt last December, he became the first Rambler in program history to record a triple-double, going for 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
 
In his collegiate career in Rogers Park, Krutwig has helped the Ramblers to 73 wins, two MVC regular season championships and a pair of postseason berths, including a trip to the NCAA Final Four in 2018.
 
College basketball fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies in each of the three rounds. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2021 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award will be narrowed down to just 10. In late February, five finalists will be presented to Mr. Abdul-Jabbar and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's selection committee.
 
The winner of the 2021 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award will be presented on Friday, April 9, 202, along with the other four members of the Men's Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Bob Cousy Point Guard Award, the Jerry West Shooting Guard Award, the Julius Erving Small Forward Award and the Karl Malone Power Forward Award, in addition to the Women's Starting Five.
 
Previous winners of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award include Luka Garza (Iowa), Ethan Happ (Wisconsin), Angel Delgado (Seton Hall), Przemek Karnowski (Gonzaga), Jakob Poetl (Utah) and Frank Kaminsky (Wisconsin).
 
For more information on the 2021 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award and the latest updates, log on to www.hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophall and #KareemAward on Twitter and Instagram. Starting Five Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies will go live today.