Jonas Valanciunas has been named the 2012 FIBA Europe Young Men’s Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.
The award will be presented to the Toronto Raptors centre just prior to Lithuania’s opening game of Eurobasket Wednesday.
Votes are collected from journalists and fans for the award which is annually handed out to the top European player under the age of 22.
The 21-year-old had a promising rookie season in Toronto, 8.9 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. As the season progressed those numbers improved as Valanciunas averaged 11.4 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in March while being named Rookie of the Month.
He then went on to be named the MVP of the NBA’s Summer League in Las Vegas in July.
Valanciunas topped Crotia’s Dario Saric and France’s Leo Westermann in voting. Saric, who currently plays for Cibona in the Croatian league, is expected to be a lottery pick in next year’s draft.
Past winners of the award include Minnesota Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio, who won it three times (2007-09), and Washington Wizards forward Jan Vesely who took home honours in 2010.