🏀 Dickinson and McCullar Named to Wooden Award National Ballot

LOS ANGELES – The Kansas duo of Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar Jr. has been named to the 2023-24 Wooden Award National Ballot, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced on ESPN College GameDay on Saturday.

Chosen by a poll of national college basketball experts based on their performances during the 2023-24 season, the Wooden Award National Ballot comprises of 15 student-athletes who are front-runners for the Wooden Award.

Dickinson and McCullar are looking to become the third Jayhawk to win the Wooden Award, joining Danny Manning (1988) and Frank Mason III (2017). Historically, in addition to Manning and Mason winning the award, there have been two Jayhawks on the Wooden All-American team five times since the inception of the award in 1977. Those were Udoka Azubuike and Devon Dotson (2020), Mason and Josh Jackson (2017), Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich (2003), Paul Pierce and Raef LaFrentz (1998) and LaFrentz and Jacque Vaughn (1997).

A 2021 Wooden All-American and six-time Big 12 weekly award winner in 2023-24, Dickinson leads the Big 12 and is seventh nationally in rebounds per game at 11. The Alexandria, Virginia, native recorded his 16th double-double of the season with 15 points and 20 rebounds against Kansas State (3/5) and his 16 double-doubles lead the Big 12 and are 10th nationally. With an 18.2 ppg, which is second in the Big 12 behind McCullar, Dickinson is the only player in the Big 12 averaging a double-double. He also leads the Big 12 with 14 games of 20-plus points and leads KU with 42 blocked shots and has 29 steals.

Dickinson enters Saturday’s game at Houston with 2,163 points and 1,117 rebounds and is one of four active players in NCAA Division I to surpass both 2,100 points and 1,100 rebounds for his career. Prior to joining Kansas last summer, Dickinson was a three-time all-conference honoree while at Michigan and a 2021 Consensus All-America Second Team selection.

Also on nearly every All-America and national player of the year watch lists, McCullar leads the Big 12 in scoring at 19.1 points per game. The San Antonio guard’s two triple-doubles are the third most in the NCAA. McCullar leads KU with 39 three-point field goals made. His 6.2 rebounds per game are second on the team and he ranks in 11 Big 12 statistical categories.

A two-time national Naismith Defensive Player of the Year semifinalist and three-time All-Big 12 selection, for his career McCullar has scored 1,517 points with 745 rebounds, 338 assists and 217 steals. He has 107 starts in his 137 games played, including 58 starts in 59 contests in his two seasons at Kansas.

All balloted players have been certified by their university to meet or exceed the qualifications for the Wooden Award as set forth by Coach Wooden when the Award was established. The qualifications include: candidates must exhibit strength of character, both on and off the court; candidates must be full-time students in an accredited NCAA college or university; candidates must be making progress toward graduation and have a cumulative 2.00 grade point average since enrolling in their school; candidates must contribute to team effort; candidates must excel in both offense and defense; and candidates should be considered on their performance over the course of the entire season.

Voting will take place from March 18th to March 25th, and voters take into consideration a player’s entire season of play, as well as the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The finalists for the 2024 Wooden Award presented by Wendy’s will be announced on March 29th.

2023-24 Wooden Award Men’s National Ballot
Name, School (Class, Pos.)
Johni Broome, Auburn (Jr., F/C)
RJ Davis, North Carolina (Sr., G)
HUNTER DICKINSON, KANSAS (SR., C)
Zach Edey, Purdue (Sr., C)
Kyle Filipowski, Duke (So., C)
DaRon Holmes II, Dayton (Jr., F)
Dalton Knecht, Tennessee (Sr., G)
Tyler Kolek, Marquette (Sr., G)
Jaedon LeDee, San Diego State (Sr., F)
Caleb Love, Arizona (Sr., G)
KEVIN MCCULLAR JR., KANSAS (SR., G)
Tristen Newton, Connecticut (Sr., G)
Antonio Reeves, Kentucky (Sr., G)
Mark Sears, Alabama (Sr., G)
Jamal Shead, Houston (Sr., G)