Gonzaga freshman Chet Holmgren named finalist for Karl Malone Power Forward award

The honors keep coming Gonzaga freshman Chet Holmgren.

Holmgren on Thursday was named one of five finalists for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced.

Earlier this week, Holmgren was voted first-team All-West Coast Conference and named the conference’s top newcomer and top defender. The awards were voted on by the 10 WCC coaches.

The 7-footer from Minneapolis is joined on the Malone list of finalists by Auburn’s Jabari Smith, Duke’s Paolo Banchero, Iowa’s Keegan Murray and Ohio State’s E.J. Liddell.

Holmgren leads the WCC in rebounding at 9.7 per game and ranks eighth in scoring at 14.4 points. His numbers climbed to 15.6 points and 10.9 rebounds in conference games.

He is fifth nationally in 2-point accuracy (72.7 percent) and seventh in field-goal percentage (61.6). He’s made nearly 44% of his 3-point attempts.

He has blocked 97 shots, second on Gonzaga’s single-season list and fourth in WCC history. His 3.7 blocks per conference game equals the WCC record set by San Francisco’s Hondre Brewer in 2002. Holmgren is closing in on Brandon Clarke’s school-record 117 blocks in 2019.

Holmgren, in just 27 games, is already eighth on the Zags’ career blocks list. He has more blocks (97) than missed shots (89).

Holmgren is in the running to become Gonzaga’s second straight Malone Award winner. Teammate Drew Timme, who is among the candidates for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award this season, won the Malone award last year. GU’s Andrew Nemhbard is a finalist for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award.

Past Malone winners include Dayton’s Obi Toppin (2020), Duke’s Zion Williamson (2019) and Arizona’s Deandre Ayton (2018).

Fans can vote on each of the five individual awards (Jerry West shooting guard, Julius Erving small forward, Cousy, Malone, Abdul-Jabbar) on Friday at at hoophallawards.com.