Christian Laettner 1992 Naismith College Player of the Year Trophy

From the Collection of Christian Laettner, SCP Auctions,

Private Collector

Presented here is Christian Laettner's 1992 Naismith College Player of the Year Trophy, awarded to Laettner at the conclusion of his senior season at Duke University. During the 1991-92 campaign, Laettner averaged 21.5 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, leading the Blue Devils to a 34-2 record and their second consecutive NCAA National Championship.

There is an argument to be made that no college basketball player has ever had a senior season like Christian Laettner's. Duke entered 1991-92 as the defending national champions and the preseason number one team in the country, a ranking they held from wire to wire. Laettner was the engine of it all. In the East Regional Final against Kentucky, he delivered what is widely considered the greatest individual moment in NCAA Tournament history — catching a full-court inbound pass from Grant Hill, turning, and drilling a turnaround jumper at the buzzer to give Duke a 104-103 overtime victory. He finished that game a perfect 10-of-10 from the field and 10-of-10 from the free-throw line, for 31 points. The Blue Devils then dispatched Michigan's vaunted Fab Five 71-51 in the championship game to become the first program in 19 years to win back-to-back national titles.

By the end of his career, Laettner had become the only player in NCAA history to start in four consecutive Final Fours, and holds the record for most NCAA Tournament games played at 23. He was the Naismith and Wooden Award winner, a consensus First Team All-American, and the ACC Player of the Year. The trophy presented here is the physical embodiment of that singular season — the highest individual honor in college basketball, retained by Laettner himself for 25 years before its sale.

Going Deeper | Christian Laettner

Christian Laettner is widely regarded as the greatest college basketball player of his era and one of the most decorated in the history of the sport. A 6'11" center-forward from Angola, New York, Laettner arrived at Duke in 1988 and immediately became a cornerstone of Coach Mike Krzyzewski's program. In four seasons, Duke went 123-26, reaching the Final Four all four years and winning back-to-back national championships in 1991 and 1992. Laettner's NCAA Tournament record of 21-2 over his career remains among the most remarkable in the history of the event.

His senior season in 1991-92 is considered one of the greatest individual campaigns in college basketball history. Laettner averaged 21.5 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, was named the Naismith and Wooden Award winner, the AP Player of the Year, and the ACC Player of the Year. He was selected third overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 1992 NBA Draft, and later that summer became the only college player selected to the 1992 United States Olympic Dream Team, winning a gold medal in Barcelona alongside Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird.