Gonzaga’s Drew Timme earns second straight Preseason Player of Year nod from CBS

Drew Timme wasn’t able to capture postseason national player of the year honors in 2021-22, but the fourth-year Gonzaga standout already appears to be a strong favorite to claim some of those honors in 2022-23.

For the second consecutive year, CBS Sports named Timme as its Preseason National Player of the Year one day after including the Gonzaga forward on preseason All-American team that also featured Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe, UCLA’s Jaime Jaquez, Houston’s Marcus Sasser and North Carolina’s Armando Bacot.

Timme was named to the publication’s postseason All-American team after averaging 18.4 points per game last season, but Kentucky’s Tshiebwe earned player of the year honors.

The two runaway favorites for POY honors this season will clash Nov. 20 when Kentucky, ranked No. 4 in this week’s preseason AP Top 25 poll, travels to Spokane to play the second-ranked Zags at Spokane Arena.

The CBS preseason second team consisted of Michigan’s Hunter Dickinson, Memphis’ Kendric Davis, Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis, North Carolina’s Caleb Love and Arkansas’ Nick Smith.

Timme and the Bulldogs are scheduled to face at least two members of the CBS third team, Baylor’s Adam Flagler and Keyonte George, and could also face Purdue’s Zach Edey and Duke’s Dereck Lively II at the PK85 Invitational in Portland. TCU’s Mike Miles Jr. was the fifth member of the third team.

The reigning West Coast Conference Player of the Year, Timme raked in postseason honors after helping lead the Zags to their seventh consecutive Sweet 16. The Richardson, Texas, native was a Naismith Trophy semifinalist, a finalist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Center of the Year Award and a Wooden Award National Finalist Ballot selection.

He also earned various All-America honors from Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, NABC, AP, USBWA and others.