TheHelms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year was an annual men'scollege basketball award given to the most outstanding men's player in the United States. It was awarded by theHelms Athletic Foundation, an organization founded in 1936 by Bill Schroeder andPaul Helms, the owner ofHelms Bakery in Los Angeles.[1]
The award was first presented in 1944, when the Helms Athletic Foundation announced Schroeder's player of the year selection for the1943–44 season as well as his retroactive picks for each season from1904–05 to1942–43.[1] Schroeder then began selecting a player of the year annually.
After Paul Helms' death in 1957, his family continued supporting the foundation until 1969, when the bakeries went out of business.[2] Schroeder found a new benefactor in United Savings & Loan,[2] and the foundation's name becameUnited Savings–Helms Athletic Foundation.[3][4] United merged withCitizens Savings & Loan in 1973, when the foundation became theCitizens Savings Athletic Foundation.[2] It was again renamed whenFirst Interstate Bank assumed sponsorship and was known as theFirst Interstate Bank Athletic Foundation in the award's final years after 1981.[5][6] Schroeder made his last player of the year selection for the1982–83 season, after which the award came to an end.
^ab"Helms Athletic Foundation — Collegiate Basketball Record — Part II" (Press release). Los Angeles: Helms Athletic Foundation. February 1943. p. 10. RetrievedDecember 22, 2023.These Basketball Player of the Year selections have been made by Helms Athletic Foundation, following careful study of the performances of outstanding players for each season since 1920. Basketball Player of the Year selections will be made by Helms Athletic Foundation at the conclusion of each season in the future.
^"Thompson, Walton Honored by CSAF".The Times and Democrat.Orangeburg, South Carolina. Associated Press. April 3, 2023. p. 14A. RetrievedDecember 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.David Thompson of North Carolina State and Bill Walton of UCLA were named college basketball Players of the Year Wednesday by the Citizens Savings Athletic Foundation. It was the third consecutive year Walton was cited.
^"Griffth adds two more awards".Kansas City Times.Kansas City, Missouri. April 1, 1980. p. D4. RetrievedDecember 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.Griffith has also been named college basketball player of the year by Citizens Savings Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles an award that goes back to 1905.
^Bender, Jack (June 29, 1983)."It's summer—and basketball is back".The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.Waterloo, Iowa. p. B1. RetrievedDecember 5, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.And only the Athletic Foundation funded by First Interstate Bank (formerly the Helms awards) picked Akeem Abdul Olajuwon of NCAA runner-up Houston as its player of the year.