Key
| † | Co-Players of the Year |
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded at that point |
| Awarded for | the most outstanding NCAA men's basketball players in all levels of competition |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| History | |
| First award | 1961 |
| Most recent | Zach Edey, Purdue |
| Website | Website |
The Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year award was established in 1961 to recognize the best men's college basketball player of the year, as voted upon by the Associated Press (AP).
The only three-time winner is Ralph Sampson of the Virginia Cavaliers program. Lew Alcindor, Zach Edey, Jerry Lucas, David Thompson, and Bill Walton each won the award twice.
| † | Co-Players of the Year |
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded at that point |
| School | Winners | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Duke | 7 | 1963, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2019 |
| UCLA | 5 | 1967, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1977 |
| Ohio State | 4 | 1961, 1962, 1964, 2010 |
| North Carolina | 3 | 1984, 1998, 2008 |
| Purdue | 3 | 1994, 2023, 2024 |
| Virginia | 3 | 1981, 1982, 1983 |
| Indiana | 2 | 1976, 1993 |
| Kentucky | 2 | 2012, 2022 |
| LSU | 2 | 1970, 1991 |
| Michigan | 2 | 1966, 2013 |
| NC State | 2 | 1974, 1975 |
| Arizona | 1 | 1989 |
| Bradley | 1 | 1988 |
| Brigham Young | 1 | 2011 |
| Cincinnati | 1 | 2000 |
| Creighton | 1 | 2014 |
| Dayton | 1 | 2020 |
| DePaul | 1 | 1980 |
| Georgetown | 1 | 1985 |
| Houston | 1 | 1968 |
| Indiana State | 1 | 1979 |
| Iowa | 1 | 2021 |
| Kansas | 1 | 2017 |
| La Salle | 1 | 1990 |
| Marquette | 1 | 1978 |
| Maryland | 1 | 1995 |
| Massachusetts | 1 | 1996 |
| Michigan State | 1 | 2016 |
| Navy | 1 | 1987 |
| Notre Dame | 1 | 1971 |
| Oklahoma | 1 | 2009 |
| Princeton | 1 | 1965 |
| Saint Joseph's | 1 | 2004 |
| St. John's | 1 | 1986 |
| Texas | 1 | 2007 |
| Utah | 1 | 2005 |
| Villanova | 1 | 2018 |
| Wake Forest | 1 | 1997 |
| Wisconsin | 1 | 2015 |
| Xavier | 1 | 2003 |
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is an American former professional basketball player who played 20 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. During his career as a center, Abdul-Jabbar was a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP). He was a 19-time NBA All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA Team member, and an 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team selection. He was a member of six NBA championship teams as a player and two more as an assistant coach, and was twice voted the NBA Finals MVP. He was named to three NBA anniversary teams. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was called the greatest basketball player of all time by Pat Riley, Isiah Thomas, and Julius Erving. Abdul-Jabbar broke the NBA's career scoring record in 1984 with 38,387 points, and held it until LeBron James surpassed him in 2023.
John Robert Wooden was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood", he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as head coach for the UCLA Bruins, including a record seven in a row. No other team has won more than four in a row in Division I college men's or women's basketball. Within this period, his teams won an NCAA men's basketball record 88 consecutive games. Wooden won the prestigious Henry Iba Award as national coach of the year a record seven times and won the Associated Press award five times.
Lucius Oliver Allen, Jr. is an American former professional basketball player. He is one of only a select few players to have won at least one high school state championship, collegiate national championship, and NBA championship.
The 1969–70 NBA season was the 24th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the New York Knicks winning the NBA Championship, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.
The 1967 NCAA University Division basketball tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on Saturday, March 11, and ended two weeks later with the championship game on March 25 in Louisville, Kentucky. A total of 27 games were played, including a third-place game in each region and a national third-place game.
The 1969 NBA draft was the 23rd annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 7 and May 7, 1969, before the 1969–70 season. In this draft, fourteen NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players. A player who had finished his four-year college eligibility was eligible for selection. If a player left college early, he would not be eligible for selection until his college class graduated.
John Patrick Donohue, M.S.M. posthumous was an American-Canadian basketball coach. Donohue was the head coach of the senior Canadian men's national basketball team for 16 years, and he led them to several international successes. He was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame, in 2013.
In men's college basketball, the Game of the Century was a historic National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) game between the Houston Cougars and the UCLA Bruins played on January 20, 1968, at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. It was the first NCAA regular season game broadcast nationwide in prime time. It established college basketball as a sports commodity on television and paved the way for the modern "March Madness" television coverage.
The 1970–71 Milwaukee Bucks season was the third season for the Bucks. Milwaukee posted a 66–16 record in only its third year of existence, and its second since drafting Lew Alcindor. A key part of this championship season was the acquisition of Oscar Robertson. Other role players on the Bucks included players such as Bob Dandridge, Jon McGlocklin, power forward Greg Smith & key reserves such as Lucius Allen, Bob Boozer and Dick Cunningham completing the nucleus. This season included a 20-game winning streak, the NBA's longest at the time, and still ranked fifth all-time. The Bucks became the first team from the Midwest Division to win the NBA title; it would be 23 years before the Houston Rockets would do the same.
The 1966–67 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team won UCLA's third NCAA national championship under head coach John Wooden with a win over Dayton. The Bruins went undefeated, winning all 30 games.
The 1967–68 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team won a second consecutive NCAA national championship, the fourth in five years under head coach John Wooden, with a win over North Carolina.
The 1968–69 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team won an unprecedented third consecutive NCAA National Basketball Championship, the fifth in six years under head coach John Wooden with a win over Purdue, coach Wooden's alma mater. The Bruins opened with 25 wins, on a 41-game winning streak, but lost the regular season finale to rival USC on March 8, which snapped a home winning streak of 85 games.
The UPI College Basketball Player of the Year was an annual basketball award given to the best men's basketball player in NCAA Division I competition. The award was first given following the 1954–55 season and was discontinued following the 1995–96 season. It was given by United Press International (UPI), a news agency in the United States that rivaled the Associated Press but began to decline with the advent of television news.
The Sporting News Men's College Basketball Player of the Year is an annual basketball award given to the best men's basketball player in NCAA Division I competition. The award was first given following the 1942–43 season and is presented by The Sporting News, an American–based sports magazine that was established in 1886.
The men's college basketball program of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) was founded in 1920 and is known competitively as the UCLA Bruins. The Bruins have won 11 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I national championships, the most of any school. UCLA players have been assigned jersey numbers ranging from 0 to 78 in the team's history. The school no longer issues nine retired numbers in honor of 10 former players. To qualify, a player must have been a three-time consensus All-American, a consensus national player of the year, or been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The retired numbers are displayed in the rafters of the Bruins' home arena, Pauley Pavilion. UCLA's legendary coach John Wooden generally opposed having numbers retired.
William Thomas Sweek is an American former basketball player and coach. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins under Coach John Wooden, winning three straight national championships from 1967 through 1969. The guard played professionally in France, and also became a coach in Europe and Africa. Sweek coached Clermont UC and Le Mans Sarthe Basket to national championships in France, and also led the Tunisia national basketball team. He was later a sports agent, and in time also worked as a high school coach and teacher.
John Miles Ecker is a German-American former basketball player and coach. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins under Coach John Wooden, winning three straight national championships from 1969 through 1971. Ecker played and coached professionally in Germany, where he also became a naturalized citizen in 1977. He also taught at a high school in Germany.
The 1968–69 NCAA University Division men's basketball season began in December 1968, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1969 NCAA University Division basketball tournament championship game on March 22, 1969, at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. The UCLA Bruins won their fifth NCAA national championship with a 92–72 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers.
The 1967–68 NCAA University Division men's basketball season began in December 1967, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1968 NCAA University Division basketball tournament championship game on March 23, 1968, at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California. The UCLA Bruins won their fourth NCAA national championship with a 78–55 victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels.
The 1966–67 NCAA University Division men's basketball season began in December 1966, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1967 NCAA University Division basketball tournament championship game on March 25, 1967, at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. The UCLA Bruins won their third NCAA national championship with a 79–64 victory over the Dayton Flyers.