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