Trayce Jackson-Davis named to 50-man watchlist for John R. Wooden Award
Indiana sophomore forward Trayce Jackson-Davis has been named to the 50-man watchlist for the John R. Wooden Award.
Jackson-Davis, who is averaging 21.5 points, seven rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 steals in 30.3 minutes per game, was also named to watchlists for the Karl Malone Award, the Naismith Award and the NABC player of the year in recent weeks.
Other Big Ten players on the watchlist include Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn of Illinois, Ron Harper Jr. of Rutgers, Michigan’s Isaiah Livers, Wisconsin’s Nate Reuvers, Michigan State’s Joey Hauser, Minnesota’s Marcus Carr and Iowa’s Luka Garza and Joe Wieskamp.
Here’s the full release, which was issued last week:
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (December 1, 2020) – The John R. Wooden Award® presented by Wendy’s® announced its Preseason Top 50 Watch List today 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.
Several schools boast multiple players on the list: Baylor (Jared Butler and MaCio Teague), Duke (Matthew Hurt and Jalen Johnson), Gonzaga (Corey Kispert and Drew Timme), Illinois (Kofi Cockburn and Ayo Dosunmu), Iowa (Luka Garza and Joe Wieskamp), Kentucky (Brandon Boston Jr. and Olivier Sarr), LSU (Javonte Smart and Trendon Watford), Stanford (Oscar da Silva and Ziaire Williams), Tennessee (John Fulkerson and Yves Pons), Villanova (Collin Gillespie and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl), and Virginia (Kihei Clark and Sam Hauser) each have two selections on the Preseason Top 50.
Of the 50 players on the preseason list, 32 are upperclassmen, including 20 seniors. The recent trend of recognizing outstanding freshmen continues with seven named to the list: Scottie Barnes (Florida State), Boston Jr. (Kentucky), Greg Brown (Texas), Cade Cunningham (Oklahoma State), Johnson (Duke), Evan Mobley (USC), Williams (Stanford).
The Preseason Top 50 represents 11 conferences. The Big Ten leads all conferences with ten selections, followed by the ACC and SEC with seven apiece, the Big 12 and PAC-12 with 6 each, the Big East with four, the Atlantic 10 and WCC with three apiece, the American with two selections, and the Mountain West and Conference USA with one selection each.
The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2021 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 2021 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Wendy’s following the NCAA Tournament in April.
Wooden Award preseason top 50 list:
Scottie Barnes, Florida State (6-9, Fr., G)
Charles Bassey, Western Kentucky (6-11, Jr., C)
B.J. Boston, Kentucky (6-7, Fr., G)
James Bouknight, Connecticut (6-5, So., G)
Garrison Brooks, North Carolina (6-10, Sr., F)
Greg Brown, Texas (6-9, Fr., F)
Jared Butler, Baylor (6-3 , Jr., G)
Marcus Carr, Minnesota (6-2, Jr., G)
Kihei Clark, Virginia (5-9, Jr., G)
Kofi Cockburn, Illinois (7-0, So., C)
Jalen Crutcher, Dayton (6-1, Sr., G)
Cade Cunningham, Oklahoma State (6-8, Fr., G)
Oscar da Silva, Stanford (6-9, Sr., F)
Ayo Dosunmu, Illinois (6-5, Jr., G)
John Fulkerson, Tennessee (6-9, Sr., F)
Marcus Garrett, Kansas (6-5, Sr., G)
Luka Garza, Iowa (6-11, Sr., C)
Collin Gillespie, Villanova (6-3, Sr., G)
Kellan Grady, Davidson (6-5, Sr., G)
Ron Harper Jr., Rutgers (6-6, Jr., G/F)
Sam Hauser, Virginia (6-8, Sr., F)
Joey Hauser, Michigan State (6-9, Jr., F)
Matthew Hurt, Duke (6-9, So., F)
Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana (6-9, So., F)
David Johnson, Louisville (6-5, So., G)
Jalen Johnson, Duke (6-9, Fr., F)
Keyontae Johnson, Florida (6-5, Jr., F)
Corey Kispert, Gonzaga (6-7, Sr., F)
Isaiah Livers, Michigan ( 6-7, Sr., F)
Remy Martin, Arizona State (6-0, Sr., G)
Caleb Mills, Houston (6-3, So., G)
Evan Mobley, USC (7-0, Fr., F)
Landers Nolley II, Memphis (6-7, So., G)
Yves Pons, Tennessee (6-6, Sr., G/F)
Neemias Queta, Utah State (7-0, Jr., C)
Nate Reuvers, Wisconsin (6-11, Sr., F)
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Villanova (6-9, So., F)
Colbey Ross, Pepperdine (6-1, Sr., G)
Fatts Russell, Rhode Island (5-10, Sr., G)
Olivier Sarr, Kentucky (7-0, Sr., F)
Javonte Smart, LSU (6-4, Jr., G)
Chris Smith, UCLA (6-9, Sr., G)
MaCio Teague, Baylor (6-4, Sr., G)
Drew Timme, Gonzaga (6-10, So., F)
Oscar Tshiebwe, West Virginia (6-9, So., F)
Trendon Watford, LSU (6-9, So., F)
Joe Wieskamp, Iowa (6-6, Jr., G/F)
Ziaire Williams, Stanford (6-8, Fr., F)
McKinley Wright IV, Colorado (6-0, Sr., G)
Marcus Zegarowski, Creighton (6-2, Jr., G)
Filed to: Trayce Jackson-Davis