LOS ANGELES, Calif. (December 1, 2020) – The John R. Wooden Award® presented by Wendy's® announced its Preseason Top 50 Watch List today on ESPN's SportsCenter and on ESPN.com. Chosen by a preseason poll of national college basketball experts, the list is comprised of 50 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for the most prestigious honors in college basketball, the Wooden Award All American Team™ and Most Outstanding Player Award.
Several schools boast multiple players on the list: Baylor (Jared Butler and MaCio Teague), Duke (Matthew Hurt and Jalen Johnson), Gonzaga (Corey Kispert and Drew Timme), Illinois (Kofi Cockburn and Ayo Dosunmu), Iowa (Luka Garza and Joe Wieskamp), Kentucky (Brandon Boston Jr. and Olivier Sarr), LSU (Javonte Smart and Trendon Watford), Stanford (Oscar da Silva and Ziaire Williams), Tennessee (John Fulkerson and Yves Pons), Villanova (
Collin Gillespie and
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl), and Virginia (Kihei Clark and Sam Hauser) each have two selections on the Preseason Top 50.
Of the 50 players on the preseason list, 32 are upperclassmen, including 20 seniors. The recent trend of recognizing outstanding freshmen continues with seven named to the list: Scottie Barnes (Florida State), Boston Jr. (Kentucky), Greg Brown (Texas), Cade Cunningham (Oklahoma State), Johnson (Duke), Evan Mobley (USC), Williams (Stanford).
The Preseason Top 50 represents 11 conferences. The Big Ten leads all conferences with ten selections, followed by the ACC and SEC with seven apiece, the Big 12 and PAC-12 with 6 each, the Big East with four, the Atlantic 10 and WCC with three apiece, the American with two selections, and the Mountain West and Conference USA with one selection each.
The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2021 John R. Wooden Award Men's Player of the Year presented by Wendy's. Players not chosen to the preseason list are still eligible for the Wooden Award™ midseason list, late season list, and the National Ballot. The National Ballot consists of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the Wooden Award. Nearly 1,000 voters will rank in order 10 of those 15 players when voting opens prior to the NCAA Tournament and will allow voters to take into consideration performance during early round games. The Wooden Award All American Team™ will be announced the week of the "Elite Eight" round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the 2021 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Wendy's following the NCAA Tournament in April.
About the John R. Wooden Award
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award Program hosts the most prestigious honors in college basketball recognizing The Wooden Award Most Outstanding Player for men and women, The Wooden Award All American Teams for men and women and the annual selection of the Wooden Award Legend of Coaching recipient. Honorees have proven to their university that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the John R. Wooden Award as set forth by Coach Wooden and the Wooden Award Steering Committee, including making progress towards graduation and maintaining at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA. Previous winners include Larry Bird ('79), Michael Jordan ('84), Tim Duncan ('97), Kevin Durant ('07), Candace Parker ('07; '08), Maya Moore ('09; '11), Chiney Ogwumike ('14), Breanna Stewart('15 and '16) and last year's recipients, Sabrina Ionescu of Oregon and Obi Toppin of Dayton.
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed nearly one million dollars to the universities' general scholarship fund in the names of the Wooden Award All American recipients and has sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with the Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament brings together Special Olympics athletes and Wooden Award All Americans and coaches in attendance. It is hosted at the Los Angeles Athletic Club during the John R. Wooden Award Weekend.
For up-to-date information on the Wooden Award, please go to www.woodenaward.com and follow the Wooden Award on Facebook at www.facebook.com/woodenaward and @WoodenAward on Twitter and Instagram.
John R. Wooden Award
Presented by Wendy's
Preseason Top 50
Scottie Barnes Florida State
Charles Bassey Western Kentucky
Brandon Boston Jr. Kentucky
James Bouknight Connecticut
Garrison Brooks North Carolina
Greg Brown Texas
Jared Butler Baylor
Marcus Carr Minnesota
Kihei Clark Virginia
Kofi Cockburn Illinois
Jalen Crutcher Dayton
Cade Cunningham Oklahoma State
Oscar da Silva Stanford
Ayo Dosunmu Illinois
John Fulkerson Tennessee
Marcus Garrett Kansas
Luka Garza* Iowa
Collin Gillespie Villanova
Kellan Grady Davidson
Ron Harper Jr. Rutgers
Sam Hauser Virginia
Joey Hauser Michigan State
Matthew Hurt Duke
Trayce Jackson-Davis Indiana
David Johnson Louisville
Jalen Johnson Duke
Keyontae Johnson Florida
Corey Kispert Gonzaga
Isaiah Livers Michigan
Remy Martin Arizona State
Caleb Mills Houston
Evan Mobley USC
Landers Nolley II Memphis
Yves Pons Tennessee
Neemias Queta Utah State
Nate Reuvers Wisconsin
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl Villanova
Colbey Ross Pepperdine
Fatts Russell Rhode Island
Olivier Sarr Kentucky
Javonte Smart LSU
Chris Smith UCLA
MaCio Teague Baylor
Drew Timme Gonzaga
Oscar Tshiebwe West Virginia
Trendon Watford LSU
Joe Wieskamp Iowa
Ziaire Williams Stanford
McKinley Wright IV Colorado
Marcus Zegarowski Creighton
* indicates player selected as a 2019-20 Wooden Award All American
