ATLANTA – Ebuka Okorie has been named to the 2026 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Men's College Player of the Year Late-Season Team, as announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
Okorie is one of 30 players on the late-season team as well as one of three players from the ACC and one of 10 freshmen. Stanford has a player on the late-season team for the second season in a row, as Maxime Raynaud was honored a year ago.
Okorie has dazzled for the Cardinal this season with averages of 22.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Okorie ranks sixth nationally in scoring, third among freshmen, joining Duke's Cameron Boozer and BYU's AJ Dybantsa as the only three freshmen nationally above 22 points per game, and second in the ACC.
Rewriting the Cardinal's freshman record book, Okorie has already broken the program's scoring records in a game (40) and in a season (541). His scoring average is on pace to top Lichti (17.2) for the top spot by 5.3 per game. He has toppled the Stanford freshman single-game scoring record three times this season, first with 32 points against Colorado (Dec. 20) and then with 36 points against North Carolina (Jan. 14). Scoring 40 points against Georgia Tech (Feb. 7), Okorie became the first Stanford player with a 40-point game since Casey Jacobsen scored 41 on Feb. 7, 2002 vs. Oregon, and Okorie’s performance was the ninth in program history with at least 40 points.
Okorie’s performances have helped Stanford to a 16-10 record this season and 5-8 mark in the ACC. As a program, the Cardinal is one of 35 teams nationally with at least four quadrant one NET wins.
The Atlanta Tipoff Club administers the Naismith Awards, the most prestigious national honors in all of college and high school basketball. Named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, inventor of the game of basketball, the family of Naismith Awards annually recognizes the most outstanding men’s and women’s college and high school basketball players and coaches.