Reigning winner Oscar Tshiebwe was among the players selected to the men’s Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 list announced Monday evening.
The award is given annually to the best college basketball player in the country.
Tshiebwe, a 6-foot-9 Kentucky forward, ran away with the Wooden Award on the men’s side last season, becoming the first Kentucky player to win the award since Anthony Davis in 2012. He entered this season as the favorite to win it again, and while Kentucky has been inconsistent for much of the season, Tshiebwe is still averaging 16.6 points and leads the country in rebounding (13.7 RPG).
The heavy favorite entering February is perceived to be Purdue’s Zach Edey, the dominant 7-foot-4 center for the nation’s top-ranked team. Edey is 10th in the country in scoring (21.4 PPG) and third in rebounding (13.0 RPG), while also blocking 2.3 shots per game and shooting better than 61% from the field. He’s coming off arguably his most impressive performance of the season, finishing with 38 points and 13 rebounds in Sunday’s win over Michigan State.
Four players, including Tshiebwe and Edey, were also on last season’s late season top 20 list. Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis and Gonzaga’s Drew Timme joined Tshiebwe and Edey on both lists, and both are among the top candidates behind Edey.