Is the race to win the John R. Wooden Award for the best college basketball player in the nation already over? Certainly not, but Purdue’s Zach Edey is the clear-cut favorite at BMR’s top-rated books with conference play in full swing.
John R. Wooden Award Favorites
The John R. Wooden Award is named after the greatest coach in college basketball history. Most associate Wooden with the dynasty he created at UCLA, but he also was a spectacular player at Purdue, the first player in history to be named All-American three times and 1932 national player of the year. Wooden was the first man to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player and coach.
The Wooden Award was created in 1976 and it’s not strictly basketball-related as the nominees must maintain at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA. UCLA’s Marques Johnson won the first award and so have future NBA legends such as Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97), and Kevin Durant (’07). The only player to win it twice was Virginia center Ralph Sampson in 1982 & ’83.
We won’t find out the winner until after the national championship game, but a midseason Top 25 list was recently announced. The national ballot consists of 15 top players who have proven to their schools that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the Wooden Award. Players not chosen to the preseason or midseason list are still eligible for the ballot.
Purdue’s Edey Dominating
The lone award winner from Wooden’s alma mater Purdue was Glenn Robinson in 1994, but current Boilermakers junior center Zach Edey is the clear-cut favorite currently at -110 NCAAB odds. As of this writing, Purdue is the nation’s No. 1 team but might not stay there in the new polls after a 65-64 loss at home vs. Rutgers last Monday.
The defeat ended Purdue’s 15-game homecourt winning streak and its 29-game homecourt winning streak against unranked teams. The Boilers entered 90-11 under Matt Painter against unranked Big Ten teams. They have rebounded with impressive wins over No. 24 Ohio State and a good Penn State squad, so staying at No. 1 is possible.
Edey is Next-Level
In Sunday’s win over the Nittany Lions, the 7-foot-4 Edey, who is from Toronto, dominated with 30 points, 13 rebounds (12th double-double of the season), and three blocks and is averaging 21.9 points on 63.1% shooting along with 13.2 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.4 assists per game.
At his current pace, he would become the only player in the NCAA online database (since 2009) to rank in the Top 25 nationally in rebounds per game, points per game, field-goal percentage, and blocked shots per game. Edey has scored in double figures in 31 straight games dating to last season, the nation’s-longest streak.
He owns a national-best seven games of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds this season. Edey is the fifth Purdue player in school history with two games of at least 30 points and 13 rebounds in a season and the first since Robinson (1993-94). Purdue is off until Friday when it hosts Nebraska.
Other Favorites
Kansas junior forward Jalen Wilson is +1000. At 14-1 and on an eight-game winning streak, the Jayhawks have a claim as the nation’s top team, they are +1200 to repeat as national champions. Ochai Agbaji was the KU star last season, but Wilson has taken over the alpha dog role in averaging 20.2 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.
He did struggle in Saturday’s win at West Virginia with 14 points on 4-for-12 shooting and four turnovers. Wilson had 14 rebounds for his 23rd career double-double, moving ninth on the school’s all-time list, passing Udoka Azubuike (2017-20) and Dedric Lawson (2018-19). Kansas is next in action Tuesday at home vs. Oklahoma.
Other possible NCAAB picks include Gonzaga’s Drew Timme (+1100), who seemingly has been playing college basketball since about 2010, Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis (+1300), Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe (+1600) and Arizona’s Azuolas Tubelis (+1600) round out the favorites.
Tshiebwe is only the third Wooden Award winner to return for the next college basketball season, joining Sampson in 1982-83 when he became the first repeat winner and North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough in 2008-09. Hansbrough wasn’t quite as good individually that year but did lead the Heels to the national title.
Kentucky has been a shocking disappointment at 10-5 thus far, but Tshiebwe has been quite good in averaging 15.8 points on 58.7% shooting and 13.2 rebounds. In Saturday’s loss to Alabama, Tshiebwe was held to just four points and six rebounds, though.
Gonzaga’s First Winner?
Timme was a Wooden Award candidate each of the past two seasons and is playing terrific again averaging 21.8 points on 61.5% shooting, 7.9 rebounds, and 3.5 assists. Timme recently passed Adam Morrison on the Zags’ all-time scoring list and is 123 points away from tying Jim McPhee for second. Gonzaga has never had a Wooden Award winner.
Tubelis was a good player last season for Arizona but has taken a massive step forward this year as the junior from Lithuania is averaging 20.6 points and 9.1 rebounds. The lone Wooden winner for the Wildcats was Sean Elliott in 1989.
North Carolina’s Armando Bacot was the +600 favorite entering the season slightly over Tshiebwe (+650) and Timme (+750), but Bacot is down to +3000 as the Heels have largely disappointed. Not Bacot’s fault as he’s averaging 18.8 points and 11.2 rebounds.
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
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