Valparaiso University men’s basketball junior Alec Peters (Washington, Ill./Washington) has been named to the 20-player preseason watch list for the Karl Malone Award, as announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Tuesday. In its second year, the award recognizes the top power forwards in Division I men’s college basketball.

Peters enters his junior season coming off of a standout sophomore campaign in which he led the Crusaders to the Horizon League regular season and tournament titles and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Peters was a First Team All-Region and First Team All-League selection last season, pacing Valpo with 16.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. He became the first player in program history to score 1,000 points by the end of his sophomore season, reaching the milestone in the NCAA Tournament against Maryland. One of the nation’s most efficient players, Peters ended the year ranked ninth nationally in Ken Pomeroy’s Offensive Rating metric among players using 20% or more of their team’s possessions.

By mid-February, the watch list of 20 players for the 2016 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award will be narrowed to just 10. In March, five finalists will be presented to Mr. Malone and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee.  The winner of the 2016 Karl Malone Award will be presented at the ESPN College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy’s from Club Nokia in Los Angeles, CA on Friday, April 8, 2016. Last season, Montrezl Harrell of Louisville was named the inaugural winner of the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award.