The Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is a currently dormant award given to the Pac-12 Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1975–76 season, when the conference was known as the Pacific-8, and was determined by voting from the Pac-12 media and coaches. On August 2, 2024, 10 of the 12 members departed from the conference. The Pac-12 continues to operate as a two-team conference for at least the 2024–25 academic year, sponsoring four sports – football, track & field, women's gymnastics and men's wrestling. On September 12, 2024, the Pac-12 announced the admission of four new universities effective July 2026: Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, and San Diego State. According to the press release, "Oregon State University and Washington State University are currently operating as members of the Pac-12 Conference as part of an NCAA two-year grace period and will continue to do so for the 2025–26 academic season before the four new members officially join. The collective six universities will collaboratively chart additional membership and other future conference considerations."
Shortly after announcing the aforementioned four new members, the Pac-12 added two more new members, also effective in 2026–27—Gonzaga and Utah State. Several months later, Texas State was announced as a 2026 arrival. With nine confirmed members, conference play is expected to resume in 2026–27, with the award again being presented.
Two players were honored multiple times: David Greenwood of UCLA and Sean Elliott of Arizona. Four freshmen also won the award: Shareef Abdur-Rahim of California, Kevin Love of UCLA, Deandre Ayton of Arizona and Evan Mobley of USC. Between the arrival of Arizona and Arizona State in 1978 and the entry of Colorado and Utah in 2011, the conference was known as the Pacific–10.
Key † Co-Players of the Year* Awarded a national player of the year award that same season: Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year (1904–05 to 1978–79) UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1954–55 to 1995–96)Oscar Robertson Trophy (1958–59 to present) Naismith College Player of the Year (1968–69 to present) John R. Wooden Award (1976–77 to present) Player (X) Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the Pac-12 Player of the Year award at that point
Winners
Season Player School Position Class Reference 1975–76 Oregon PG / SG 1976–77 * UCLA PF 1977–78 UCLA PF 1978–79 (2) UCLA PF 1979–80 Washington State SF 1980–81 Oregon State C 1981–82 Oregon State PG 1982–83 UCLA SF 1983–84 Oregon State PF 1984–85 USC PF 1985–86 Washington C 1986–87 Oregon State C 1987–88 Arizona SF 1988–89 * (2) Arizona SF 1989–90 Oregon State PG 1990–91 Oregon PG 1991–92 USC SG 1992–93 Arizona SF 1993–94 California PG 1994–95† * UCLA SF Arizona PG 1995–96 California PF 1996–97 California SG 1997–98 Arizona PG 1998–99 Arizona PG 1999–00 Arizona State SG 2000–01 California PF 2001–02 USC PF 2002–03 Oregon PG 2003–04 Stanford SG / SF 2004–05 Arizona State PF / C 2005–06 Washington SG 2006–07 UCLA SG 2007–08 UCLA PF 2008–09 Arizona State SG 2009–10 California PG 2010–11 Arizona SF / PF 2011–12 California PG 2012–13 California SG 2013–14 Arizona PG / SG 2014–15 Oregon PG 2015–16 Utah C 2016–17 Oregon SF 2017–18 Arizona PF 2018–19 Washington SG 2019–20 Oregon PG 2020–21 USC F 2021–22 Arizona SG / SF 2022–23 UCLA SG / SF 2023–24 Arizona SG 2024–25Pac-12 basketball to resume in 2026–27 2025–26
Winners by school School (year joined) Winners Years Arizona (1978) 11 1988, 1989, 1993, 1995†, 1998, 1999, 2011, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2024 UCLA (1959) 8 1977, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1995†, 2007, 2008, 2023 California (1959) 7 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2010, 2012, 2013 Oregon (1964) 6 1976, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2017, 2020 Oregon State (1964) 5 1981, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1990 USC (1959) 4 1985, 1992, 2002, 2021 Arizona State (1978) 3 2000, 2005, 2009 Washington (1959) 3 1986, 2006, 2019 Stanford (1959) 1 2004 Utah (2011) 1 2016 Washington State (1962) 1 1980 Colorado (2011) 0 — For purposes of this table, the "year joined" reflects the year that each team joined the conference now known as the Pac-12 as presently chartered. Although the Pac-12 claims the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), founded in 1915, as part of its own history, that conference disbanded in 1959 due to infighting and scandal. That same year, four PCC members established the Athletic Association of Western Universities (AAWU) under a new charter that functions to this day, with a fifth joining before AAWU competition started. The player of the year award was not established until 1976, by which time all of the final members of the PCC except for Idaho were reunited in what was then the Pac-8.
See also List of All-Pac-12 Conference men's basketball teams
References