UNC Basketball: How could Luke Maye win the 2019 Karl Malone Award?

2. Luke Maye is a senior

There have been four players that have won the Karl Malone award. They are Deandre Ayton, Johnathan Motley, Georges Niang, and Montrezl Harrell. 

Out of those four, three of them were upperclassmen with Ayton being the only freshman.

Maye will look to be the fourth upperclassmen to win the award. 

A star talent like Ayton was able to will himself for the award last season but an upperclassman should have the best chance to win the award as should be expected in the college ranks.

In North Carolina’s frontcourt Cam Johnson, who was the team’s third scorer last year will be starting at the other frontcourt position. Johnson started 20 out of the 26 games that he played in last year.

With a talent that is able to drop 30 (Johnson dropped 32 last year against Clemson) he will be able to take eyes off Maye so he can get put-backs and have room to play with his back to the basket since the defense will have to respect Johnson’s ability to step out and shoot the three.

The ball will go to Maye since he is a senior and a talented player. With three seasons under his belt, this is Maye’s chance to become one of the best players in the country and a dominant force in the post.