Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

The Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is a currently dormant award given to the Pac-12 Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1975–76 season, when the conference was known as the Pacific-8, and was determined by voting from the Pac-12 media and coaches. On August 2, 2024, 10 of the 12 members departed from the conference. The Pac-12 continues to operate as a two-team conference for at least the 2024–25 academic year, sponsoring four sports – football, track & field, women's gymnastics and wrestling.^[1] On September 12, 2024, the Pac-12 announced the admission of four new universities effective July 2026: Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, and San Diego State.^[2] According to the press release, "Oregon State University and Washington State University are currently operating as members of the Pac-12 Conference as part of an NCAA two-year grace period and will continue to do so for the 2025–26 academic season before the four new members officially join. The collective six universities will collaboratively chart additional membership and other future conference considerations."^[2]

Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

Awarded for	the most outstanding basketball player in the Pac-12 Conference
Country	United States
History
First award	1976
Final award	Anticipated to resume in 2026–27

In a span of less than three weeks in September 2024, the Pac-12 added six new members effective in 2026–27—Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, San Diego State, and Utah State.^[3][4][5] With eight confirmed members, conference play is expected to resume in 2026–27, with the award again being presented.

Two players were honored multiple times: David Greenwood of UCLA and Sean Elliott of Arizona. Four freshmen also won the award: Shareef Abdur-Rahim of California, Kevin Love of UCLA, Deandre Ayton of Arizona and Evan Mobley of USC.^[6] Between the arrival of Arizona and Arizona State in 1978 and the entry of Colorado and Utah in 2011, the conference was known as the Pacific–10.

Key

†	Co-Players of the Year
*	Awarded a national player of the year award: Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year (1904–05 to 1978–79) UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1954–55 to 1995–96) Naismith College Player of the Year (1968–69 to present) John R. Wooden Award (1976–77 to present)
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the Pac-12 Player of the Year award at that point

Winners

Marques Johnson, UCLA, 1977

David Greenwood, UCLA, 1978 and 1979

Steve Johnson, Oregon State, 1981

Sean Elliott, Arizona, 1988 and 1989

Gary Payton, Oregon State, 1990

Harold Miner, USC, 1992

Jason Kidd, California, 1994

Shareef Abdur-Rahim, California, 1996

Luke Ridnour, Oregon, 2003

Ike Diogu, Arizona State, 2005

Nick Johnson, Arizona, 2014

Deandre Ayton, Arizona, 2018

Payton Pritchard, Oregon, 2020

Bennedict Mathurin, Arizona, 2021

Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA, 2023

Caleb Love, Arizona, 2024

Season	Player	School	Position	Class	Reference
1975–76	Ron Lee	Oregon	PG / SG	Senior	[7]
1976–77	Marques Johnson*	UCLA	PF	Senior	[8]
1977–78	David Greenwood	UCLA	PF	Junior	[9]
1978–79	David Greenwood (2)	UCLA	PF	Senior	[10]
1979–80	Don Collins	Washington State	SF	Senior	[11]
1980–81	Steve Johnson	Oregon State	C	Senior	[12]
1981–82	Lester Conner	Oregon State	PG	Senior	[13]
1982–83	Kenny Fields	UCLA	SF	Junior	[14]
1983–84	A.C. Green	Oregon State	PF	Junior	[15]
1984–85	Wayne Carlander	USC	PF	Senior	[16]
1985–86	Christian Welp	Washington	C	Junior	[17]
1986–87	José Ortiz	Oregon State	C	Senior	[18]
1987–88	Sean Elliott	Arizona	SF	Junior	[19]
1988–89	Sean Elliott* (2)	Arizona	SF	Senior	[19]
1989–90	Gary Payton	Oregon State	PG	Senior	[20]
1990–91	Terrell Brandon	Oregon	PG	Junior	[21]
1991–92	Harold Miner	USC	SG	Junior	[22]
1992–93	Chris Mills	Arizona	SF	Senior	[23]
1993–94	Jason Kidd	California	PG	Sophomore	[24]
1994–95†	Ed O'Bannon*	UCLA	SF	Senior	[25]
	Damon Stoudamire	Arizona	PG	Senior	[25]
1995–96	Shareef Abdur-Rahim	California	PF	Freshman	[26]
1996–97	Ed Gray	California	SG	Senior	[27]
1997–98	Mike Bibby	Arizona	PG	Sophomore	[28]
1998–99	Jason Terry	Arizona	PG	Senior	[29]
1999–00	Eddie House	Arizona State	SG	Senior	[30]
2000–01	Sean Lampley	California	PF	Senior	[31]
2001–02	Sam Clancy	USC	PF	Senior	[32]
2002–03	Luke Ridnour	Oregon	PG	Junior	[33]
2003–04	Josh Childress	Stanford	SG / SF	Junior	[34]
2004–05	Ike Diogu	Arizona State	PF / C	Junior	[35]
2005–06	Brandon Roy	Washington	SG	Senior	[36]
2006–07	Arron Afflalo	UCLA	SG	Junior	[37]
2007–08	Kevin Love	UCLA	PF	Freshman	[38]
2008–09	James Harden	Arizona State	SG	Sophomore	[39]
2009–10	Jerome Randle	California	PG	Senior	[40]
2010–11	Derrick Williams	Arizona	SF / PF	Sophomore	[41]
2011–12	Jorge Gutiérrez	California	PG	Senior	[42]
2012–13	Allen Crabbe	California	SG	Junior	[43]
2013–14	Nick Johnson	Arizona	PG / SG	Junior	[44]
2014–15	Joe Young	Oregon	PG	Senior	[45]
2015–16	Jakob Pöltl	Utah	C	Sophomore	[46]
2016–17	Dillon Brooks	Oregon	SF	Junior	[47]
2017–18	Deandre Ayton	Arizona	PF	Freshman	[48]
2018–19	Jaylen Nowell	Washington	SG	Sophomore	[49]
2019–20	Payton Pritchard	Oregon	PG	Senior	[50]
2020–21	Evan Mobley	USC	F	Freshman	[51]
2021–22	Bennedict Mathurin	Arizona	SG / SF	Sophomore	[52]
2022–23	Jaime Jaquez Jr.	UCLA	SG / SF	Senior	[53]
2023–24	Caleb Love	Arizona	SG	Senior	[54]
2024–25	Pac-12 basketball anticipated to resume in 2026–27[1][2]
2025–26

Winners by school

School (year joined)a	Winners	Years
Arizona (1978)	11	1988, 1989, 1993, 1995†, 1998, 1999, 2011, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2024
UCLA (1959)	8	1977, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1995†, 2007, 2008, 2023
California (1959)	7	1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2010, 2012, 2013
Oregon (1964)	6	1976, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2017, 2020
Oregon State (1964)	5	1981, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1990
USC (1959)	4	1985, 1992, 2002, 2021
Arizona State (1978)	3	2000, 2005, 2009
Washington (1959)	3	1986, 2006, 2019
Stanford (1959)	1	2004
Utah (2011)	1	2016
Washington State (1962)	1	1980
Colorado (2011)	0	—

• ^a For purposes of this table, the "year joined" reflects the year that each team joined the conference now known as the Pac-12 as presently chartered. Although the Pac-12 claims the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), founded in 1915, as part of its own history, that conference disbanded in 1959 due to infighting and scandal. That same year, five PCC members established the Athletic Association of Western Universities (AAWU) under a new charter that functions to this day. The player of the year award was not established until 1976, by which time all of the final members of the PCC except for Idaho were reunited in what was then the Pac-8.

See also

• List of All-Pac-12 Conference men's basketball teams

References

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