The Pac-12 Freshman of the Year is an annual award in the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

presented to its top freshman player in men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. The winner is chosen by the Pac-12 coaches. The honor began in 1978–79, when it was known as the Rookie of the Year and players in their first year in the conference, including transfers, were eligible. Junior

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

Bryan Rison of

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

was the first honoree and the only non-freshman to ever win. The candidates were limited to freshman starting in 1983–84, when the award was renamed to Freshman of the Year. The conference was known as the Pacific-10 before becoming the Pac-12 in 2011. Four winners were also named the conference's player of the year in the same year:

Shareef Abdur-Rahim Julius Shareef Abdur-Rahim (born December 11, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player who is the president of the NBA G League. Nicknamed Reef, he previously served as the director of player personnel for the Sacramento Kings ...

(

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, 1996), Kevin Love (

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, 2008),

Deandre Ayton Deandre Edoneille Ayton Sr. ( ; born July 23, 1998) is a Bahamian professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A consensus five-star prospect in the Class of 2017 and a McDonald's All ...

(

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, 2018) and Evan Mobley (

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

, 2021).

Key

Winners

Winners by school

References

{{Pac-12 Conference men's basketball navbox

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

Awards established in 1979

Freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

College sports freshman awards