Caleb Swanigan Named to Karl Malone Award Watch List

Yesterday Vincent Edwards was named to the Julius Erving Award Watch List for the nation’s best small forward. Today we see that Caleb Swanigan got a similar recognition as he was named to the Karl Malone Award Watch List given to the nation’s best power forward:

Purdue men's basketball sophomore Caleb Swanigan was 1-of-20 players named to the watch list for the Karl Malone Award the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced today.

A national committee comprised of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates, given to the nation's top power forward. This list will be narrowed down to 10 in mid-February and then five finalists will be selected in March that will be presented to Karl Malone and the selection committee. The winner of this award will be presented at the third annual ESPN College Basketball Awards Show live from The Novo in Los Angeles, California, on Friday, April 7.

This marks the third year for the award, won by Louisville’s Montrezl Harrell in 2015 and Iowa State’s Georges Niang a year ago.

Swanigan is expected to have a huge season for Purdue and be one of the best players in the Big Ten, so he definitely has a shot at this. We can also expect Isaac Haas to be named to his own watch list tomorrow.

Here is the complete list of 20 guys, with Purdue opponents highlighted:

Lauri Markkanen Arizona

Johnathan Motley Baylor

Ivan Rabb California

Amile Jefferson Duke

Jonathan Isaac Florida St.

Yante Maten Georgia

Carlton Bragg Jr. Kansas

Dedric Lawson Memphis

Miles Bridges Michigan St.

Isaiah Hicks North Carolina

Bonzie Colson Notre Dame

Michael Young Pittsburgh

Caleb Swanigan Purdue

Tyler Lydon Syracuse

TJ Leaf University of California, Los Angeles

Bennie Boatwright University of Southern California

Alec Peters Valparaiso

Kris Jenkins Villanova

Austin Nichols Virginia

Nigel Hayes Wisconsin