With the start of the college basketball season less than 24 hours away, there was one last bit of preseason awards business to be handled.
The Los Angeles Athletic Club, which has presented the John R. Wooden Award to the best player in basketball since 1977, released its preseason Top 50 list on Friday afternoon.
Of the fifty players on the list just one was a member of last year’s Wooden Award All-America Team, Creighton power forward Doug McDermott.
A rule that has ruffled feathers in the past is the exclusion of freshmen from the list. While on one side of the argument there’s the point that “we haven’t seen them play at the college level,” there are solid arguments to be made for some of best newcomers in the country.
That explains why Kentucky and UCLA, who can claim two of the nation’s best recruiting classes, don’t have a single player on the Top 50 list. Transfers and medical redshirts are also ineligible for the preseason list.
Nine Big Ten players, led by forwards Cody Zeller (Indiana) and Deshaun Thomas (Ohio State), are on the list and that number leads all conferences. The Big East (seven), ACC and SEC (six apiece) are next in line. In total sixteen conferences are represented in the Wooden Award Top 50.
Name | Height | Class | Position | University | Conference |
Keith Appling | 6-1 | Jr. | G | Michigan State | Big Ten |
Chane Behanan | 6-6 | So. | F | Louisville | Big East |
Kenny Boynton | 6-2 | Sr. | G | Florida | SEC |
Lorenzo Brown | 6-5 | Jr. | G | North Carolina State | ACC |
Trey Burke | 6-0 | So. | G | Michigan | Big Ten |
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope | 6-5 | So. | G | Georgia | SEC |
Isaiah Canaan | 6-1 | Sr. | G | Murray State | Ohio Valley |
Jack Cooley | 6-9 | Sr. | F | Notre Dame | Big East |
D.J. Cooper | 6-0 | Sr. | G | Ohio University | Mid-American |
Vincent Council | 6-2 | Sr. | G | Providence | Big East |
Allen Crabbe | 6-6 | Jr. | G | California | Pac-12 |
Aaron Craft | 6-2 | Jr. | G | Ohio State | Big Ten |
Seth Curry | 6-2 | Sr. | G | Duke | ACC |
Brandon Davies | 6-9 | Sr. | F | BYU | West Coast |
Matthew Dellavedova | 6-4 | Sr. | G | Saint Mary’s | West Coast |
Gorgui Dieng | 6-11 | Jr. | C | Lousville | Big East |
Jamaal Franklin | 6-5 | Jr. | G | San Diego State | Mountain West |
Tim Frazier | 6-1 | Sr. | G | Penn State | Big Ten |
Tim Hardaway, Jr. | 6-6 | Jr. | G | Michigan | Big Ten |
Elias Harris | 6-8 | Sr. | F | Gonzaga | West Coast |
Solomon Hill | 6-7 | Sr. | F | Arizona | Pac-12 |
Pierre Jackson | 5-10 | Sr. | G | Baylor | Big 12 |
Elijah Johnson | 6-4 | Sr. | G | Kansas | Big 12 |
Sean Kilpatrick | 6-4 | Jr. | G/F | Cincinnati | Big East |
C.J. Leslie | 6-9 | Jr. | F | North Carolina State | ACC |
James Michael McAdoo | 6-9 | So. | F | North Carolina | ACC |
Ray McCallum | 6-3 | Jr. | G | Detroit | Horizon League |
C.J. McCollum | 6-3 | Sr. | G | Lehigh | Patriot League |
Doug McDermott* | 6-8 | Jr. | F | Creighton | Missouri Valley |
Rodney McGruder | 6-4 | Sr. | G | Kansas State | Big 12 |
Tony Mitchell | 6-8 | So. | F | North Texas | Sun Belt |
Mike Moser | 6-8 | Jr. | F | UNLV | Mountain West |
Brock Motum | 6-10 | Sr. | F | Washington State | Pac-12 |
Le’Bryan Nash | 6-7 | So. | G/F | Oklahoma State | Big 12 |
Brandon Paul | 6-4 | Sr. | G | Illinois | Big Ten |
Mason Plumlee | 6-10 | Sr. | F | Duke | ACC |
Otto Porter | 6-8 | So. | F | Georgetown | Big East |
Phil Pressey | 5-11 | Jr. | G | Missouri | SEC |
André Roberson | 6-7 | Jr. | F | Colorado | Pac-12 |
Peyton Siva | 6-0 | Sr. | G | Louisville | Big East |
Michael Snaer | 6-5 | Sr. | G | Florida State | ACC |
Jarnell Stokes | 6-8 | So. | F | Tennessee | SEC |
Adonis Thomas | 6-7 | So. | G/F | Memphis | Conference USA |
Deshaun Thomas | 6-7 | Jr. | F | Ohio State | Big Ten |
Christian Watford | 6-9 | Sr. | F | Indiana | Big Ten |
Jeff Withey | 7-0 | Sr. | C | Kansas | Big 12 |
Nate Wolters | 6-4 | Sr. | G | South Dakota State | Summit League |
B.J. Young | 6-3 | So. | G | Arkansas | SEC |
Patric Young | 6-9 | Jr. | C | Florida | SEC |
Cody Zeller | 7-0 | So. | F | Indiana | Big Ten |
Players listed alphabetically *indicates player chosen to the 2012 Wooden All American Team
Only one team can claim three players on the list and that’s Louisville, as Chane Behanan, Gorgui Dieng and Peyton Siva were honored. Seven schools placed two players on the list, and nine of the fifty players made last season’s preseason Top 50.
Raphielle is also the assistant editor at CollegeHoops.net and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.