Indiana basketball: Trayce Jackson-Davis could win 2023 Karl Malone Award

The Karl Malone Award has been given to the best power forward in college basketball since 2015 and Indiana basketball forward, Trayce Jackson-Davis has a good chance to win it this upcoming season.

In honor of “The Mailman”, who played for Lousiana Tech from 1982 to 1985 and averaged 18.7 points and 9.3 rebounds in his three-year career in college before getting drafted by the Utah Jazz 13th overall in 1985, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has named 20 players to the preseason watch list for the upcoming season.

The 2022-23 preseason watch list contained some of the biggest names in college basketball for this upcoming season, like Drew Timme (Gonzaga), Jayden Gardner (Virginia), DeAndre Williams (Memphis), Pete Nance (North Carolina), and GG Jackson (South Carolina). Along with those big names, Trayce Jackson-Davis appeared on the list and, in my opinion, has just as much of a chance to win the award as the names above.

The only real threat to this award for Jackson-Davis is Drew Timme. Timme has played three seasons for Gonzaga and averaged 18.4 points and 6.8 rebounds, playing mostly WCC opponents. Now compare that to the Indiana basketball forward, who averaged 18.3 points and 8.1 rebounds against mostly Big Ten opponents. Who would you give the upper hand to? TJD, no doubt.

Surprisingly enough, the only other Big Ten forward to make an appearance on the preseason list was Kris Murray from Iowa, who is seemingly riding the wave of what his brother accomplished last season. Although only two Big Ten power forwards made the preseason watch list, I wouldn’t be surprised if a guy like Race Thompson (Indiana) or Dawson Garcia (Minnesota) make an appearance midway through the season.