BOSTON, Mass.—On Thursday, San José State's Omari Moore received another recognition for his tremendous season as he was named a finalist for the 2022-23 Lute Olson National Player of the Year Award presented annually to the nation's top Division I player.
The award is named in honor of Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson, who won 776 games in 34 seasons, 24 of which were spent at the University of Arizona. During that stretch he led the Wildcats to 11 Pac-10 Conference titles, 23 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, four Final Four appearances and a National Championship in 1997.
Olson is one of just 25 head coaches in NCAA history to win 700 or more games (all divisions) and ranks ninth on the Division I career victories list. He finished with a winning percentage of .731 and is the all-time winningest coach in Arizona history with 587-190 record (.755). He was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year seven times. Olson also guided Arizona to 20 consecutive 20- win seasons, and is one of only three coaches in NCAA history to record 29 or more 20-win seasons.
Moore was named the Mountain West's Player of the Year on Tuesday. He is averaging 17.5 points per game this season and leads the team in assists with 146. Moore is seventh all-time in scoring at 1,247 points and fifth in assists with 407, prior to Thursday's game.
In 2002, Olson was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The recipient of the 2023 award will be announced in March, in Houston site of the men's NCAA Basketball Championship.
2022-23 LUTE OLSON AWARD FINALISTS
Max Abmas 6-0 Oral Roberts
Armando Bacot 6-11 North Carolina
Marcus Carr 6-2 Texas
Kendric Davis 6-0 Memphis
RayJ Dennis 6-2 Toledo
Zach Edey 7-4 Purdue
Kyle Filipowski 7-0 Duke
Adam Flagler 6-3 Baylor
Trayce Jackson-Davis 6-9 Indiana
Jaime Jaquez Jr. 6-7 UCLA
Keyontae Johnson 6-6 Kansas State
Tyler Kolek 6-3 Marquette
Darius McGhee 5-9 Liberty
Brandon Miller 6-9 Alabama
Omari Moore 6-6 San José State
Kris Murray 6-8 Iowa
Markquis Nowell 5-8 Kansas State
Drew Pember 6-11 UNC Asheville
Marcus Sasser 6-2 Houston
Terquavion Smith 6-4 NC State
Drew Timme 6-10 Gonzaga
Oscar Tshiebwe 6-9 Kentucky
Azuolas Tubelis 6-11 Arizona
Jalen Wilson 6-8 Kansas
Isaiah Wong 6-4 Miami
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