Gonzaga, Auburn each placed two on the Men’s Ultimate Wooden Prize ballot; Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe is considered the runner-up
The national ballot of 15 players for the John R. Wooden Award was revealed on Saturday, with two standing out from the top-ranked. Gonzaga among those on the list.
Junior forward Drew Timmewho helped team Zags appear in the national championship match last season and freshman phenom Chet Holmgren are two Bulldogs on the ballot. The 6-foot-10 Timme leads the 24-3 Zags team with 17.6 points per game, while averaging 6.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists. Timme was named WCC Player of the Year on Thursday.
Holmgren 7-0 joins Duke‘S Paolo Banchero and Auburn‘S Jabari Smith was one of three freshmen on the ballot. Holmgren, #1 in the latest ESPN NBA 2022 test draft, averaging 14.4 points and a high team 9.7 rebounds and 3.6 blocks. He is one of the national leaders with 72.7% on 2 shots as well as an impressive 43.8% with 39 3s.
The top candidate for Wood is considered by everyone Kentucky in front of Oscar Tshiebwe, the national leader with 15.3 rebounds along with 16.9 points and the highest 1.5 block teammates. If he maintains his average, Tshiebwe’s recovery numbers will be Division I’s best since Monti Davis’s State of Tennessee averaging 16.2 during the 1978-79 season.
The Big Ten leads all conferences with five players on the final ballot: Illinois‘ Kofi Cockburn, Wisconsin‘S Johnny Davis, Purdue‘S Jaden Ivey, Ohio State‘S EJ Liddell and Iowa‘S Keegan Murray.
Of the 15 players on the final ballot, 10 appeared in the first round of ESPN’s latest test draft, including bigwig Auburn Walker Kessler (No. 18), the only addition to the ballot since Wooden Watch’s season-ending roster was revealed in February. Kessler is averaging 11.6 points and 8.2 rebounds for a Tigers team holding a No. 1 seed in ESPN’s latest competition. bracket projection.
The six players excluded from the 20-player roster in February’s Wooden Watch are Max Abmas (Oral Roberts), James Akinjo (Baylor), Zach Edey (Purdue), Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana), Isaiah Mobley (USC) and David Roddy (State of Colorado).
