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NCAA Division I basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player
College basketball award
College basketball award
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | NCAA Division I basketball tournament |
| Most Outstanding Player | |
| description | the MOP of the Final Four of the NCAA Division I men's and women's national basketball tournaments |
| country | United States |
| year | 1939 (men) |
| 1982 (women) | |
| holder | Walter Clayton Jr., Florida (men) |
| Azzi Fudd, UConn (women) |
Most Outstanding Player 1982 (women) Azzi Fudd, UConn (women) The Most Outstanding Player (MOP) is awarded to one player after the conclusion of the championship game of the NCAA Division I men's and women's basketball tournaments. The award is also often referred to as the Final Four Most Outstanding Player, referencing the conclusion of the Final Four semifinals and championship games. Accredited media members at the championship game vote on the award.
The players that win the award are predominantly members of the championship team. However, ten men and one woman have won it as players on the losing squad. On the men's side, Houston's Akeem Olajuwon was the last to do so in 1983, while Virginia's Dawn Staley was the only woman to do so, in 1991.
One player's award has been officially vacated (not recognized) by the NCAA, while another player's was vacated but later restored. In 1971, Howard Porter won the award despite Villanova losing to UCLA in the championship game. Villanova later vacated their entire season. His award was restored in 2019 when a lawsuit brought against the NCAA was settled, clearing his name of any wrongdoing in the team scandal.
Key
| Italics | Award officially vacated by NCAA |
|---|
Winners
| | | | |
| Year | Tournament | Player | School | Position | Class | Reference | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1938–39 | No NCAA tournament | ||||||||||||||
| 1939–40 | |||||||||||||||
| 1940–41 | |||||||||||||||
| 1941–42 | |||||||||||||||
| 1942–43 | |||||||||||||||
| 1943–44 | |||||||||||||||
| 1944–45 | |||||||||||||||
| 1945–46 | |||||||||||||||
| 1946–47 | |||||||||||||||
| 1947–48 | |||||||||||||||
| 1948–49 | |||||||||||||||
| 1949–50 | |||||||||||||||
| 1950–51 | |||||||||||||||
| 1951–52 | |||||||||||||||
| 1952–53 | |||||||||||||||
| 1953–54 | |||||||||||||||
| 1954–55 | |||||||||||||||
| 1955–56 | |||||||||||||||
| 1956–57 | |||||||||||||||
| 1957–58 | |||||||||||||||
| 1958–59 | |||||||||||||||
| 1959–60 | |||||||||||||||
| 1960–61 | |||||||||||||||
| 1961–62 | |||||||||||||||
| 1962–63 | |||||||||||||||
| 1963–64 | |||||||||||||||
| 1964–65 | |||||||||||||||
| 1965–66 | |||||||||||||||
| 1966–67 | |||||||||||||||
| 1967–68 | |||||||||||||||
| 1968–69 | |||||||||||||||
| 1969–70 | |||||||||||||||
| 1970–71 | |||||||||||||||
| 1971–72 | |||||||||||||||
| 1972–73 | |||||||||||||||
| 1973–74 | |||||||||||||||
| 1974–75 | |||||||||||||||
| 1975–76 | |||||||||||||||
| 1976–77 | |||||||||||||||
| 1977–78 | |||||||||||||||
| 1978–79 | |||||||||||||||
| 1979–80 | |||||||||||||||
| 1980–81 | |||||||||||||||
| 1981–82 | 1982 | Louisiana Tech | F | ||||||||||||
| 1982–83 | 1983 | USC | SF | ||||||||||||
| 1983–84 | 1984 | * (2) | USC | SF | |||||||||||
| 1984–85 | 1985 | Old Dominion | F | ||||||||||||
| 1985–86 | 1986 | Texas | F | ||||||||||||
| 1986–87 | 1987 | Tennessee | G | ||||||||||||
| 1987–88 | 1988 | Louisiana Tech | F | ||||||||||||
| 1988–89 | 1989 | Tennessee | F | ||||||||||||
| 1989–90 | 1990 | * | Stanford | PG | |||||||||||
| 1990–91 | 1991 | * | Virginia# | PG | |||||||||||
| 1991–92 | 1992 | Stanford | G | ||||||||||||
| 1992–93 | 1993 | * | Texas Tech | SG / SF | |||||||||||
| 1993–94 | 1994 | North Carolina | F | ||||||||||||
| 1994–95 | 1995 | * | UConn | C | |||||||||||
| 1995–96 | 1996 | Tennessee | PG | ||||||||||||
| 1996–97 | 1997 | Tennessee | SF | ||||||||||||
| 1997–98 | 1998 | * (2) | Tennessee | SF | |||||||||||
| 1998–99 | 1999 | Purdue | G | ||||||||||||
| 1999–00 | 2000 | UConn | PG | ||||||||||||
| 2000–01 | 2001 | * | Notre Dame | PF / C | |||||||||||
| 2001–02 | 2002 | UConn | SF | ||||||||||||
| 2002–03 | 2003 | * | UConn | PG / SG | |||||||||||
| 2003–04 | 2004 | * (2) | UConn | PG / SG | |||||||||||
| 2004–05 | 2005 | Baylor | SF | ||||||||||||
| 2005–06 | 2006 | Maryland | PF / C | ||||||||||||
| 2006–07 | 2007 | * | Tennessee | PF | |||||||||||
| 2007–08 | 2008 | * (2) | Tennessee | PF | |||||||||||
| 2008–09 | 2009 | UConn | C | ||||||||||||
| 2009–10 | 2010 | * | UConn | PF | |||||||||||
| 2010–11 | 2011 | Texas A&M | PF / C | ||||||||||||
| 2011–12 | 2012 | * | Baylor | C | |||||||||||
| 2012–13 | 2013 | UConn | PF | last =Feinberg | first =Doug | title=UConn's Stewart goes out on top | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/709148464 | newspaper=The Island Packet | location=Bluffton, South Carolina | date=April 7, 2016 | page= B3 | via =Newspapers.com | accessdate = August 31, 2024}} | ||
| 2013–14 | 2014 | * (2) | UConn | PF | |||||||||||
| 2014–15 | 2015 | * (3) | UConn | PF | |||||||||||
| 2015–16 | 2016 | * (4) | UConn | PF | |||||||||||
| 2016–17 | 2017 | South Carolina | C | ||||||||||||
| 2017–18 | 2018 | Notre Dame | PG | ||||||||||||
| 2018–19 | 2019 | Baylor | G | ||||||||||||
| 2019–20 | 2020 | Tournament canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |||||||||||||
| 2020–21 | 2021 | Stanford | SG | ||||||||||||
| 2021–22 | 2022 | * | South Carolina | PF / C | |||||||||||
| 2022–23 | 2023 | LSU | PF | ||||||||||||
| 2023–24 | 2024 | South Carolina | C | ||||||||||||
| 2024–25 | 2025 | UConn | SG |
|}
- Olajuwon later changed his first name's spelling from Akeem to Hakeem to use the original Arabic spelling.
- Despite what some NCAA publications have printed many years later—that Kentucky's Bill Spivey won the 1951 award—no official vote occurred after the game and no player was officially presented as the winner. A news article printed by the Lexington Herald-Leader on April 7, 1951, titled "What Happened To NCAA's MVP Award?" detailed this mysterious divergence of precedent. Reporter Ed Ashford wrote, "For 11 consecutive years a most valuable player was chosen after the NCAA basketball tournament. However this year, for some unexplained reason, no poll was taken and there was no MVP honored. Whether the authorities just forgot about it or decided to eliminate balloting for the honor is not known. If a poll had been taken, it is likely that Kentucky would have garnered its third MVP award in the last four years. Alex Groza won the honor in 1948 and 1949 while Bill Spivey and Shelby Linville would have been strong contenders for the award this year."
- Lew Alcindor later changed his named to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
- Porter scored 25 points in a losing effort but was still named the MOP. However, he was later ruled ineligible for the honor because he had signed a professional contract with the ABA's Pittsburgh Condors during the middle of his senior year. The NCAA vacated both Porter's award and Villanova's entire season.
- Okafor graduated as a finance major in only three years. He was a senior academically in 2003–04, but was still considered a junior as it related to his athletic eligibility.
- Hancock had his MOP award stripped when the NCAA vacated Louisville's 2013 national championship. His award was restored in 2019 when a lawsuit brought against the NCAA was settled, clearing his name of any wrongdoing in the team scandal.
References
References
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- . (2024). ["Kenny Sailors – awards and honors"](https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/kenny-sailors-1.html). *Sports Reference LLC*.
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- (March 27, 1946). "Oklahoma Aggies Defeat Carolina 43–40, Repeat As National Champs". [[Clinton Daily News]].
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- (March 27, 1973). "'We'll Be in Greensboro Next Year'". [[Twin City Sentinel]].
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- (March 25, 1980). "Griffith Takes Over, Cards Take Title". Crowley Post-Signal.
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- Maisel, Ivan. (April 3, 1990). "MVP Hunt sets pace as UNLV runs over Duke". [[Syracuse Herald-Journal]].
- (April 2, 1991). "Duke bedevils Kansas to win title". [[The Daily Sentinel (Grand Junction, Colorado).
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- Pucin, Diane. (April 7, 1993). "He learned how the Tar Heels win". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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- (April 4, 1995). "O'Bannon: Edney the real MVP". [[Tampa Bay Times]].
- Dougherty, Mike. (April 2, 1996). "Orange shot down by Delk". [[The Reporter Dispatch]].
- Bock, Hal. (April 1, 1997). "Simon named Final 4 MVP". [[The Item]].
- (April 1, 1998). "Sheppard's Sacrifice Pays Off". [[Valley News]].
- (April 15, 1999). "Rip Hamilton". Hartford Courant.
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- Barnhouse, Wendell. (April 8, 2008). "Chalmers' shot goes down ... in history". [[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]].
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- (April 3, 2012). "No offense, but Davis got his point across". [[Honolulu Star-Advertiser]].
- (April 8, 2014). "By leading UConn to title, Napier joins club of elite guards". Omaha World-Herald.
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- Beard, Aaron. (April 5, 2023). "Sanogo snags ball, MOP honors in NCAA title win". [[The Advocate (Newark).
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- McLain, Jim. (March 29, 1982). "Barmore: The best team ever". [[The Times (Shreveport, Louisiana).
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- (April 2, 1984). "Experience pays for Lady Trojans". [[South Bend Tribune]].
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- (March 31, 1987). "Lady Vols finally win NCAA title". Okmulgee Daily Times.
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- (April 30, 1989). "Gordon glitters in Tacoma". [[New York Daily News]].
- Geracie, Bud. (April 2, 1990). "Team play helps Stanford to title". [[The Republic (Columbus, Indiana).
- (April 1, 1991). "Missed free throws dash Virginia's hopes". [[The Charlotte Observer]].
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- (April 4, 2007). "Parker honored as MOP". Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
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- (April 2, 2018). "A Happy Easter for Notre Dame". [[Winston-Salem Journal]].
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- Bieler, Chapel. (April 17, 2024). "USC star Cardoso picked No. 3 overall in WNBA Draft". [[The Herald (Rock Hill).
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- . (March 11, 1991). ["Akeem gets the 'H' back in his name"](https://www.deseret.com/1991/3/11/18909505/akeem-gets-the-h-back-in-his-name/). *[[Deseret News]]*.
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