LOGAN, Utah-Friday, Utah State men’s basketball sophomore center Neemias Queta was named to the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar watch list per an announcement from the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame of Springfield, Mass.

This award is annually bestowed upon the best center in Division I men’s basketball.

The Portuguese national is one of only 20 candidates named to this watch list as he comes off a campaign which saw him post 11.8 points and 8.9 rebounds per game in 2018-19.

His 84 blocks last season set a record for Utah State freshmen. Queta is the only representative of a Beehive State-based university on this list.

Previous winners of this award include Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ, Seton Hall’s Angel Delgado, Przemek Karnowski of Gonzaga, Utah’s Jakob Poeltl and Frank Kaminsky of Wisconsin.