Amida Brimah not named to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar award watch list

No doubt, Amida Brimah needs to improve this season on rebounding and cutting down silly fouls. UConn could use a little more offense out of the 7-foot junior center, as well.

But he has been one of the top shot-blockers in the nation the past two seasons, not to mention the AAC's defensive player of the year. That's got to warrant him some consideration as one of the better centers in college hoops, no?

Well, apparently, no. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced its 20-player watch list for the 2015 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year award, and Brimah's name isn't on it. You can't tell me he's not one of the top 20 centers in the nation.

There are numerous freshmen on the list, however, including Diamond Stone (who chose Maryland over UConn) and Skal Labissiere, who's not even eligible to play yet at Kentucky.

Meanwhile, Sterling Gibbs didn't make the watch list for the Bob Cousy award for top point guards. The only Huskies who made watch lists were Daniel Hamilton and Rodney Purvis -- both for the Julius Erving award for small forwards. Isn't Purvis a two-guard?

Ultimately, none of this is a big deal. It's just one watch list out of numerous preseason lists and awards, and it's all just opinion. But these are the type of things that could motivate UConn, which seems to be flying under the radar a bit at the start of this season and may be able to play the "disrespect" card.

Anyway, here's the list of candidates:

2016 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award Candidates  Kaleb Tarczewski, Arizona Mamadou Ndiaye, UC Irvine Josh Scott, Colorado Egidijus Mockevicius, Evansville Przemek Karnowski, Gonzaga Thomas Bryant, Indiana Jameel McKay, Iowa State Cheick Diallo, Kansas Skal Labissiere, Kentucky Diamond Stone, Maryland Stephen Zimmerman, UNLV  Kennedy Meeks, North Carolina  Zach Auguste, Notre Dame AJ Hammons, Purdue Jakob Poeltl, Utah Damian Jones, Vanderbilt Daniel Ochefu, Villanova Josh Hawkinson, Washington State Joel Bolomboy, Weber State Devin Williams, West Virginia