🏀 Agbaji Named to Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watch List

LOS ANGELES – Kansas senior Ochai Agbaji has been named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watch List, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced on ESPNU Wednesday.

Chosen by a poll of national college basketball experts based on their performances during the 2021-22 season thus far, the list comprises of 25 student-athletes who are front-runners for the Wooden Award. Agbaji is looking to become the third Jayhawk to win the Wooden Award, joining Danny Manning (1988) and Frank Mason III (2017).

Agbaji leads No. 6 Kansas (12-1) in scoring at 20.2 points per game which is second in the Big 12 and 17th nationally. The Kansas City, Missouri, guard leads the Big 12 in three-point field goals made per game (2.9) and is second in three-point field goal percentage (45.1). On almost every national player of the year watch list and a preseason All-Big 12 First Team selection, Agbaji has scored 20 or more points in seven games this season. He was named Big 12 Player of the Week on Nov. 15.

The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2022 John R. Wooden Award Men’s Player of the Year presented by Wendy’s. Players not chosen to the preseason or midseason list are still eligible for the Wooden Award 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 2022 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Wendy’s following the NCAA Tournament in April.

Wooden Award 2021-22 Midseason Top 25

Name, School, Class, Position

Max Abmas, Oral Roberts, Jr., G

Ochai Agbaji, Kansas, Sr., G

James Akinjo, Baylor, Sr., G

Paolo Banchero, Duke, Fr., F

Izaiah Brockington, Iowa State, Sr., G

Kofi Cockburn, Illinois, Jr., C

Johnny Davis, Wisconsin, So., G

Hunter Dickinson, Michigan, So., C

Zach Edey, Purdue, So., C

Collin Gillespie, Villanova, Sr., G

Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga, Fr., C

Jaden Ivey, Purdue, So., G

Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana, Jr., F

Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA, Jr., G/F

Johnny Juzang, UCLA, Jr., G

E.J. Liddell, Ohio State, Jr., F

Bennedict Mathurin, Arizona, So., G

Isaiah Mobley, USC, Jr., F

Wendell Moore Jr., Duke, Jr., F

Keegan Murray, Iowa, So., F

David Roddy, Colorado State, Jr., F

Jabari Smith, Auburn, Fr., F

Drew Timme, Gonzaga, Jr., F

Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky, Jr., F

Trevion Williams, Purdue, Sr., F