AP Player of the Year

List of AP Player of the Year winners

Every year since 1967, the Associated Press (AP) has awarded the Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year Award (or simply AP Player of the Year Award) to recognize the best men’s college basketball player of the season. Virginia‘s Ralph Sampson is the only player to win the award three times (1981-83), while five others have won twice (most recently in 2023-24). Duke is the program with the most winners (seven), followed by UCLA (five) and Ohio State (four).

See also: AP Coach of the Year | List of AP All-American Teams

Year Player School
1961 Jerry Lucas Ohio State
1962 Jerry Lucas (2) Ohio State (2)
1963 Art Heyman Duke
1964 Gary Bradds Ohio State (3)
1965 Bill Bradley Princeton
1966 Cazzie Russell Michigan
1967 Lew Alcindor UCLA
1968 Elvin Hayes Houston
1969 Lew Alcindor (2) UCLA (2)
1970 Pete Maravich LSU
1971 Austin Carr Notre Dame
1972 Bill Walton UCLA (3)
1973 Bill Walton (2) UCLA (4)
1974 David Thompson NC State
1975 David Thompson (2) NC State (2)
1976 Scott May Indiana
1977 Marques Johnson UCLA (5)
1978 Butch Lee Marquette
1979 Larry Bird Indiana State
1980 Mark Aguirre DePaul
1981 Ralph Sampson Virginia
1982 Ralph Sampson (2) Virginia (2)
1983 Ralph Sampson (3) Virginia (3)
1984 Michael Jordan North Carolina
1985 Patrick Ewing Georgetown
1986 Walter Berry St. John’s
1987 David Robinson Navy
1988 Hersey Hawkins Bradley
1989 Sean Elliott Arizona
1990 Lionel Simmons La Salle
1991 Shaquille O’Neal LSU (2)
1992 Christian Laettner Duke (2)
1993 Calbert Cheaney Indiana (2)
1994 Glenn Robinson Purdue
1995 Joe Smith Maryland
1996 Marcus Camby UMass
1997 Tim Duncan Wake Forest
1998 Antawn Jamison North Carolina (2)
1999 Elton Brand Duke (3)
2000 Kenyon Martin Cincinnati
2001 Shane Battier Duke (4)
2002 Jay Williams Duke (5)
2003 David West Xavier
2004 Jameer Nelson Saint Joseph’s
2005 Andrew Bogut Utah
2006 JJ Redick Duke (6)
2007 Kevin Durant Texas
2008 Tyler Hansbrough North Carolina (3)
2009 Blake Griffin Oklahoma
2010 Evan Turner Ohio State (4)
2011 Jimmer Fredette BYU
2012 Anthony Davis Kentucky
2013 Trey Burke Michigan (2)
2014 Doug McDermott Creighton
2015 Frank Kaminsky Wisconsin
2016 Denzel Valentine Michigan State
2017 Frank Mason III Kansas
2018 Jalen Brunson Villanova
2019 Zion Williamson Duke (7)
2020 Obi Toppin Dayton
2021 Luka Garza Iowa
2022 Oscar Tshiebwe Kentucky (2)
2023 Zach Edey Purdue (2)
2024 Zach Edey (2) Purdue (3)
2025

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