Michael Young named to Karl Malone Award watch list

Senior forward Michael Young has accomplished a lot in his first three years at Pitt, but expectations are even higher entering his senior season.

Young earned the first preseason award nomination of 2016 for the Pitt men’s basketball team Thursday afternoon when he was selected to the Karl Malone Award watch list, one of 20 players in the country to receive the honor.

The award, given annually to the best power forward in college basketball, is named after Hall of Fame power forward Karl Malone, a two-time NBA MVP and the second-leading scorer in NBA history. Throughout the season, which begins in November, a committee will narrow the list and choose a winner in April.

Young, Pitt’s 6-foot-9, 235-pound power forward, has played in 103 games in his college career and has started in all but one. He made 53.7 percent of his shots and led the team with an average of 15.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game as a junior last season.

The Duquesne, Pennsylvania, native led the Panthers in scoring 15 times and rebounding 17 times during the season, earning third-team All-ACC honors in the process. Together with senior Jamel Artis, a third-team All-ACC selection in 2014-2015, Pitt is the only team in the conference with multiple All-ACC performers.

The watch list for the Karl Malone Award will be trimmed to 10 by mid-February, and the five finalists will be presented to Malone and the Hall of Fame selection committee in March. The winner will be announced Friday, April 7, 2017, at the ESPN College Basketball Awards.

Louisville’s Montrezl Harrell won the inaugural Karl Malone Award in 2015, while Iowa State’s Georges Niang won it last year.