Alvaro Folgueiras, Basketball player | Iowa Hawkeyes Men's Basketball
Alvaro Folgueiras, Basketball player | Iowa Hawkeyes Men's Basketball
University of Iowa junior Alvaro Folgueiras has been named to the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Preseason Top 20 Watch List. The announcement was made Thursday by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Folgueiras becomes the third player from Iowa to receive this recognition, following Keegan Murray in 2021 and Kris Murray in 2022. Keegan Murray won the award during the 2021 season.
The Karl Malone Award, named after Class of 2010 Hall of Famer and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Karl Malone, is now in its twelfth year.
Folgueiras is beginning his first season with Iowa. Last season at Robert Morris, he was named Horizon League Player of the Year and earned a spot on the All-Horizon League First Team for the 2024-25 campaign. He averaged 14.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.4 steals per game while helping Robert Morris secure both a regular season and tournament title in the Horizon League and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
A native of Málaga, Spain, Folgueiras started all 35 games for Robert Morris last season, scoring in double figures on 27 occasions with five games above 20 points. He recorded fourteen double-doubles and had at least ten rebounds in seventeen contests.
During summer 2025, Folgueiras represented Spain at the U20 FIBA EuroBasket Championships in Greece and also participated in training sessions and friendlies with Spain’s senior men’s national team.
On this year’s preseason watch list for the Karl Malone Award are five players from Big Ten schools: Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg, Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn, UCLA’s Tyler Bilodeau, Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli, along with Folgueiras from Iowa.
The selection process for the Karl Malone Award will continue through the season; ten semifinalists will be announced late January followed by five finalists in March. The winner will be revealed at the Final Four event held in Indianapolis.
Iowa begins its men’s basketball season on November 4 by hosting Robert Morris at Carver-Hawkeye Arena at 7:30 p.m. Central Time. Tickets for both single games and full seasons are available online through hawkeyesports.com/tickets.
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