Chet Holmgren finishes 2nd in 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year voting

To no one's surprise, Victor Wembanyama was named the 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year, becoming the sixth player to win the award in unanimous fashion.

Coming in second was former Gonzaga men's basketball star Chet Holmgren, who earned 98 of the 99 second-place votes. Holmgren, the No. 2 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, missed the entire 2022-23 season with a Lisfranc fracture, making him eligible for the Rookie of the Year award this season.

The 22-year-old Holmgren had an incredible season, averaging 16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.9 blocks and 2.4 assists while starting all 82 games for Oklahoma City during the regular season. He helped lead the Thunder to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. The Thunder are in the Western Conference semifinals vs. the Dallas Mavericks with Game 1 scheduled to tip off Tuesday night.

Finishing second is the closest a former Gonzaga player has come to winning NBA Rookie of the Year. Adam Morrison finished 4th in 2007 and Brandon Clarke finished 4th in 2020.

“His ability to impact the game is something you really have to appreciate and love,” Dan Dickau said of Holmgren on a recent Gonzaga Nation episode.

"He's the epitome of what the league has become," former Gonzaga guard Andrew Nembhard said of his former college teammate Holmgren earlier this season. "Guys playing all different types of positions; you got little guys setting screens and rolling, you got big guys shooting 3s, coming off ball screens, passing the ball well.”