Baylor’s Jared Butler, Oklahoma State’s Cade Cunningham and Iowa’s Luka Garza headline the Wooden Award Watch List
The list also includes both Hauser brothers, Sam at Virginia and Joey at Michigan State.
Several schools have multiple candidates: Corey Kispert and Drew Timme of Gonzaga, Butler and MaCio Teague of Baylor, Matthew Hurt and Jalen Johnson of Duke, B.J. Boston and Olivier Sarr of Kentucky, Collin Gillespie and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl of Villanova, Javonte Smart and Trendon Watford of LSU, Kofi Cockburn and Ayo Dosunmu of Illinois, Sam Hauser and Kihei Clark of Virginia, John Fulkerson and Yves Pons of Tennessee and Oscar da Silva and Ziaire Williams of Stanford.
The full list is at the very bottom of this post.
Iowa’s Luka Garza is the opening favorite to win the Wooden Award per @betonline_ag pic.twitter.com/w00O5uQRVo
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) December 1, 2020
The players on the preseason watch list are considered strong candidates for the 2021 John R. Wooden Award Men’s Player of the Year presented by Wendy’s. 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 2021 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Wendy’s following the NCAA Tournament in April.
John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy’s Preseason Top 50
| Player | School |
| Scottie Barnes | Florida State |
| Charles Bassey | Western Kentucky |
| B.J. Boston | Kentucky |
| James Bouknight | UConn |
| Garrison Brooks | North Carolina |
| Greg Brown | TEXAS |
| Jared Butler | Baylor |
| Marcus Carr | Minnesota |
| Kihei Clark | Virginia |
| Kofi Cockburn | Illinois |
| Jalen Crutcher | Dayton |
| Cade Cunningham | Oklahoma State |
| Oscar da Silva | Stanford |
| Ayo Dosunmu | Illinois |
| John Fulkerson | Tennessee |
| Marcus Garrett | Kansas |
| Luke Garza | Iowa |
| Collin Gillespie | Villanova |
| Kellan Grady | Davidson |
| Ron Harper Jr. | Rutgers |
| Sam Hauser | Virginia |
| Joey Hauser | Michigan State |
| Matthew Hurt | Duke |
| Trayce Jackson-Davis | Indiana |
| David Johnson | Louisville |
| Jalen Johnson | Duke |
| Keyontae Johnson | Florida |
| Corey Kispert | Gonzaga |
| Isaiah Livers | Michigan |
| Remy Martin | Arizona State |
| Caleb Mills | Houston |
| Evan Mobley | USC |
| Landers Nolley II | Memphis |
| Yves Pons | Tennessee |
| Neemias Queta | Utah State |
| Nate Reuvers | Wisconsin |
| Jeremiah Robinson-Earl | Villanova |
| Colbey Ross | Pepperdine |
| Fatts Russell | Rhode Island |
| Olivier Sarr | Kentucky |
| Javonte Smart | LSU |
| Chris Smith | UCLA |
| MaCio Teague | Baylor |
| Drew Timme | Gonzaga |
| Oscar Tshiebwe | West Virginia |
| Trendon Watford | LSU |
| Joe Wieskamp | Iowa |
| Ziaire Williams | Stanford |
| McKinley Wright IV | Colorado |
| Marcus Zegarowski | Creighton |
