Duke's Grayson Allen, Marvin Bagley III highlight Wooden Award top 50
The John R. Wooden Award announced its top 50 on Tuesday, and the themes of the honor's initial collection of candidates are flashy freshmen and experience.
Duke's Grayson Allen and North Carolina's Joel Berry II anchor a group of 22 seniors on the first list for college basketball's top honor. But standout freshmen Marvin Bagley III of Duke, Deandre Ayton of Arizona, Mohamed Bamba of Texas and Michael Porter Jr. of Missouri -- -projected lottery picks in next summer's NBA draft -- are all strong contenders to win the Wooden Award.
Miles Bridges, the Michigan State sophomore who returned to East Lansing for a shot at the national title, entered the season with more hype than player on the award's first list.
Nine players from the ACC earned a mention, too.
But it's also a diverse list that acknowledges players outside the Power 5 conferences like South Dakota State's Mike Daum, Wichita State's Landry Shamet and SMU's Shake Milton.
In January, the Wooden Award will unveil a midseason top 25 list, which might feature players who did not make Tuesday's top 50 list.
John R. Wooden Award top 50
Jaylen Adams, Senior, St. Bonaventure
Deng Adel, Junior, Louisville
Rawle Alkins, Sophomore, Arizona
Grayson Allen, Senior, Duke
KeVaughn Allen, Junior, Florida
Deandre Ayton, Freshman, Arizona
Marvin Bagley III, Freshman, Duke
Mohamed Bamba, Freshman, Texas
Joel Berry II, Senior, North Carolina
Trevon Bluiett, Senior, Xavier
Miles Bridges, Sophomore, Michigan State
Bruce Brown Jr., Sophomore, Miami
Jalen Brunson, Junior, Villanova
Jeffrey Carroll, Senior, Oklahoma State
Jevon Carter, Senior, West Virginia
Bonzie Colson, Senior, Notre Dame
Mike Daum, Junior, South Dakota State
Angel Delgado, Senior, Seton Hall
Hamidou Diallo, Freshman, Kentucky
Trevon Duval, Freshman, Duke
Vincent Edwards, Senior, Purdue
Jacob Evans, Junior, Cincinnati
Matt Farrell, Senior, Notre Dame
Marcus Foster, Senior, Creighton
Devonte' Graham, Senior, Kansas
Rob Gray, Senior, Houston
Ethan Happ, Junior, Wisconsin
Aaron Holiday, Junior, UCLA
Chandler Hutchison, Senior, Boise State
Jaren Jackson Jr., Freshman, Michigan State
Kevin Knox, Freshman, Kentucky
Ben Lammers, Senior, Georgia Tech
Jock Landale, Senior, Saint Mary's
Kelan Martin, Senior, Butler
Nate Mason, Senior, Minnesota
Yante Maten, Senior, Georgia
Bryant McIntosh, Senior, Northwestern
Jordan McLaughlin, Senior, USC
Chimezie Metu, Junior, USC
Shake Milton, Junior, SMU
Malik Newman, Sophomore, Kansas
Michael Porter Jr., Freshman, Missouri
Collin Sexton, Freshman, Alabama
Landry Shamet, Sophomore, Wichita State
Reid Travis, Junior, Stanford
Allonzo Trier, Junior, Arizona
Moritz Wagner, Junior, Michigan
Robert Williams, Sophomore, Texas A&M
Johnathan Williams, Senior, Gonzaga
Trae Young, Freshman, Oklahoma
