Purdue Boilermakers center Zach Edey and Indiana Hoosiers center Trayce Jackson-Davis were among the five finalists for the Wooden Award and the 10 All-Americans who were announced Thursday night.
The Wooden Award, given annually to the best men’s and women’s college basketball player in the country, will be announced April 7.
Edey, a 7-foot-4 center, has been the perceived frontrunner for most of the season, averaging 22.3 points (ranking 6th in Div. I), 12.9 rebounds (2nd) and 2.1 blocks, while shooting 60.7% from the field. He helped lead Purdue to the Big Ten regular-season title as well as the conference tournament championship, with the Boilermakers earning a 1-seed in the NCAA tournament before losing to 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson in the first round.
Jackson-Davis closed the gap toward the end of the regular season, helping lead Indiana to a regular-season sweep of Purdue. He averaged 20.9 points, 10.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.9 blocks, but he played his best basketball during Big Ten play. The 6-foot-9 senior finished second in the conference in scoring, second in rebounding, seventh in assists, first in blocks and third in field goal percentage.
Rounding out the five finalists for the award are Houston guard Marcus Sasser, Gonzaga center Drew Timme and Kansas forward Jalen Wilson.
Timme is among the five finalists for the second season in a row.
The Wooden Award also released a 10-player All-American team, featuring the five aforementioned finalists as well as UCLA‘s Jaime Jaquez Jr., Alabama‘s Brandon Miller, Penn State‘s Jalen Pickett, Arizona‘s Azuolas Tubelis and Kentucky‘s Oscar Tshiebwe, the reigning Wooden Award winner.
Tshiebwe won’t repeat, but he still managed to lead the nation with 13.7 rebounds per game while also scoring 16.5 points and shooting 56% from the field.
Timme and Tshiebwe were the only players named to back-to-back All-American teams.
The men’s Wooden Award has been given out every year since 1977. UCLA’s Marques Johnson was the first recipient of the award.
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