CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy's announced its Preseason Top 50 Watch List Tuesday on ESPN's SportsCenter and on ESPN.com. Chosen by a preseason poll of national college basketball experts, the list is comprised of 50 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for the most prestigious honors in college basketball, the Wooden Award All American Team and Most Outstanding Player Award.
Included in the Wooden Watch List is Fighting Illini senior Terrence Shannon Jr. Shannon is off to a great start as an Illini, averaging 22.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists through three games. He is shooting 53% from the field and better than 81% at the foul line while ranking second nationally with 26 made free throws. Shannon is coming off a career-high 30-point performance in Monday's win over Monmouth.
This is the fourth accolade for Shannon, who previously was named to the Naismith Trophy Watch List, Jerry West Award Watch List, and Preseason All-Big Ten Team.
Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 Watch List
Max Abmas, Oral Roberts
Posh Alexander, St. John's
Timmy Allen, Texas
Armando Bacot, North Carolina
Matt Bradley, San Diego State
Tyger Campbell, UCLA
Colin Castleton, Florida
Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy
Kendric Davis, Memphis
RJ Davis, North Carolina
Hunter Dickinson, Michigan
Zach Edey, Purdue
Adam Flagler, Baylor
Jayden Gardner, Virginia
Keyonte George, Baylor
DaRon Holmes II, Dayton
Tyrese Hunter, Texas
Harrison Ingram, Stanford
Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana
Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA
Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton
Dereck LIvely II, Duke
Caleb Love, North Carolina
Hunter Maldonado, Wyoming
Kevin McCullar Jr., Kansas
Darius McGhee, Liberty
Mike Miles Jr., TCU
Brandon Miller, Alabama
Kris Murray, Iowa
Nijel Pack, Miami
Will Richardson, Oregon
Jeremy Roach, Duke
Adama Sanogo, Connecticut
Marcus Sasser, Houston
Baylor Scheierman, Creighton
Terrence Shannon Jr., Illinois
Terquavion Smith, N.C. State
Nick Smith Jr., Arkansas
Julian Strawther, Gonzaga
Drew Timme, Gonzaga
Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky
Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona
Santiago Vescovi, Tennessee
Jordan Walker, UAB
Cason Wallace, Kentucky
Sahvir Wheeler, Kentucky
Dariq Whitehead, Duke
Cam Whitmore, Villanova
Jalen Wilson, Kansas
Isaiah Wong, Miami
The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2023 John R. Wooden Award Men's Player of the Year presented by Wendy's. Players not chosen to the preseason list are still eligible for the Wooden Award™ midseason list, late season list, and the National Ballot. The National Ballot consists of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the Wooden Award. Nearly 1,000 voters will rank in order 10 of those 15 players when voting opens prior to the NCAA Tournament and will allow voters to take into consideration performance during early round games. The Wooden Award All American Team™ will be announced the week of the "Elite Eight" round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the 2023 John R. Wooden Award will be presented in Los Angeles in April.
About the John R. Wooden Award
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award Program hosts the most prestigious honors in college basketball recognizing The Wooden Award Most Outstanding Player for men and women, The Wooden Award All America Teams for men and women and the annual selection of the Wooden Award Legend of Coaching recipient. Honorees have proven to their university that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the John R. Wooden Award as set forth by Coach Wooden and the Wooden Award Steering Committee, including making progress towards graduation and maintaining at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA. Previous winners include Larry Bird ('79), Michael Jordan ('84), Tim Duncan ('97), Kevin Durant ('07), Candace Parker ('07; '08), Maya Moore ('09; '11), Chiney Ogwumike ('14), and last year's recipients, Aliyah Boston of South Carolina and Oscar Tshiebwe of Kentucky.
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed nearly one million dollars to the universities' general scholarship fund in the names of the Wooden Award All American recipients and has sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with the Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament brings together Special Olympics athletes and Wooden Award All Americans and coaches in attendance. It is hosted at the Los Angeles Athletic Club during the John R. Wooden Award Weekend.
The Legends of Coaching Award will be presented along with the Wooden Award Men's and Women's Players of the Year on April 7, 2023. For up-to-date information on the Wooden Award, please go to woodenaward.com and follow the Wooden Award on Facebook at facebook.com/woodenaward and @WoodenAward on Twitter and Instagram.
