UPI College Basketball Player of the Year
| Awarded for | the most outstanding NCAA Division I men's basketball player |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | United Press International |
| History | |
| First award | 1955 |
| Final award | 1996 |
The UPI College Basketball Player of the Year was an annual basketball award given to the best men's basketball player in NCAA Division I competition. The award was first given following the 1954–55 season and was discontinued following the 1995–96 season. It was given by United Press International (UPI), a news agency in the United States that rivaled the Associated Press but began to decline with the advent of television news.
Five players—Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas, Lew Alcindor[a], Bill Walton and Ralph Sampson—won the award multiple times. Among them, only Robertson, Walton, and Sampson were three-time UPI Players of the Year.
UCLA had the most all-time winners with six. Ohio State was second with four winners, while Cincinnati and Virginia were tied for third with three winners apiece.