Utah Valley’s Fardaws Aimaq has been named to the Lou Henson National Player of the Year watch list. The award goes to the top player among the mid-major ranks, and honors the great Lou Henson who won over 700 games in his tenure at New Mexico State and Illinois.
The 6’ 11” redshirt center is one of only three sophomores to be included on the watch list. The other two are Isiaih Mosley from Missouri State and Michael Green III from Bryant. Since its inception in 2010, no sophomore has ever won this prestigious award.
Aimaq first joined the team in 2019 after transferring to UVU from Mercer where he played in 29 games and shot 51% from the field. He then sat out the 2019-20 season due to NCAA transfer rules.
UVU has started off 3-0 in conference play largely due to Aimaq’s performance. During this stretch he has averaged 21.3 points per game and leads the nation in rebounds per game at 14.9. He has also been a large defensive presence in the post for the Wolverines– averaging 2.3 blocks per game in conference play.
Aimaq began to garner national attention on Dec. 12 against Wyoming in what was only his fifth career game for the Wolverines. He scored 27 points and pulled down 20 rebounds which set a new school record for the most rebounds in one game.
Previous players to win the Lou Henson Award are current Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Matthew Dellavedova and Atlanta Hawks center Nathan Knight. Dellavedova averaged 14.2 points per game while attending Saint Mary’s College and went on to win the award during the 2012-13 season. Knight led William & Mary to a 21-11 record last season while averaging 20.7 points per game and 10.5 rebounds per game.
UVU looks to continue their in-conference play against new WAC member Tarleton State in a back-to-back home series on Friday, Jan. 29 and Saturday, Jan. 30. Both games will be broadcast on the WAC Digital Network and ESPN 960 AM.
