LOS ANGELES – Four standouts from the American Athletic Conference – Cincinnati’s Jacob Evans, Rob Gray of Houston, SMU’s Shake Milton and Landry Shamet of Wichita State – were among the 50 players named to the John R. Wooden® presented by Wendy’s® Preseason Top 50 today.
The announcement was made 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 college basketball’s most prestigious individual honor.
All four have been named to watch lists earlier in the season, as Evans is among the Julius Erving Award candidates, while Gray was nominated for the Jerry West Award. Milton and Shamet are both listed for the Bob Cousy Award, Lute Olsen Award and Naismith Trophy, while Shamet is also a nominee for the Oscar Robertson Trophy.
In 2016-17, Evans led the Bearcats in scoring, averaging 13.5 points with 4.2 rebounds last season. A 2017 Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year finalist, NABC District 25 Second Team selection and American Championship All-Tournament team honoree, Evans scored in double figures in 31 of 36 games in 2016-17, the most by a Bearcat since Sean Kilpatrick (33 of 34 games in 2013-14).
Gray was named to the Preseason All-American Athletic Conference First Team after leading the Cougars and the American Athletic Conference with 20.6 points per game, becoming Houston’s eighth conference scoring champion in school history and the first since Aubrey Coleman led the nation in 2010. As a junior, Gray was a first team all-conference pick.
In October, Milton was tabbed as the preseason player of the year in The American, a season after he helped lead SMU to a 30-win season and 17-1 overall mark in the conference. Selected All-American Athletic Conference second team in 2016-17, Milton averaged 13.0 points, 4.5 assists and 1.3 steals. He also had a 2.6 assist-to-turnover ratio while shooting 42.3 percent on threes.
Shamet helped guide Wichita State to a 31-win season as a freshman and a spot in the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. Shifting to the point guard spot in January of 2017, Shamet averaged 11.4 points and led the Shockers in assists (3.3) and minutes (26.7). Shamet was selected to the American Athletic Conference's preseason first team.
The Preseason Top 50 list represents 11 conferences. The ACC leads all conferences with 9 selections, followed by the Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC with 7 selections apiece, Big 12 (6), Big East (5), The American (4). The WCC has two selections and the Atlantic 10, Mountain West, and The Summit League each have one selection.
The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2018 John R. Wooden Award Men’s Player of the Year presented by Wendy’s. Players not chosen to the preseason list are 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 are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA. Nearly 1,000 voters will rank in order 10 of those 15 players, who have been qualified as meeting the standards set forth by Coach Wooden and the Wooden Award Steering Committee. Voting will open prior to the start of 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 2018 John R. Wooden Award will be presented during the ESPN College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy’s on Friday, April 6, 2018.
About the John R. Wooden Award
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation’s best basketball player at an NCAA Division I university who has proven to his or her university that he or she is making progress towards graduation and maintaining a minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97), and last year’s recipients, Kelsey Plum of Washington and Frank Mason III of Kansas.
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed nearly one million dollars to the universities’ general scholarship fund in the names of the Wooden Award All-American recipients and has sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with the Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament brings together Special Olympics athletes and Wooden Award All-Americans and coaches in attendance. It is hosted at the Los Angeles Athletic Club during the John R. Wooden Award Weekend.
The Legends of Coaching Award will be presented during the 4
th Annual ESPN College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy’s, which will take place on Friday, April 6, 2018. For up-to-date information on the Wooden Award, please go to www.woodenaward.com and follow the Wooden Award on Facebook at www.facebook.com/woodenaward and @WoodenAward on Twitter and Instagram.
JOHN R. WOODEN AWARD PRESENTED BY WENDY’S 2017-18 PRESEASON TOP 50
| Name |
School |
Conference |
Height |
Class |
Position |
| Jaylen Adams |
St. Bonaventure |
Atlantic 10 |
6-2 |
Sr. |
G |
| Deng Adel |
Louisville |
ACC |
6-7 |
Jr. |
F |
| Rawle Alkins |
Arizona |
Pac-12 |
6-5 |
Soph. |
G |
| Grayson Allen |
Duke |
ACC |
6-5 |
Sr. |
G |
| KeVaughn Allen |
Florida |
SEC |
6-2 |
Jr. |
G |
| DeAndre Ayton |
Arizona |
Pac-12 |
7-1 |
Fr. |
F |
| Marvin Bagley III |
Duke |
ACC |
6-11 |
Fr. |
F |
| Mohamed Bamba |
Texas |
Big 12 |
6-11 |
Fr. |
F |
| Joel Berry II |
North Carolina |
ACC |
6-0 |
Sr. |
G |
| Trevon Bluiett |
Xavier |
Big East |
6-6 |
Sr. |
G |
| Miles Bridges |
Michigan St. |
Big Ten |
6-7 |
Soph. |
G/F |
| Bruce Brown Jr. |
Miami |
ACC |
6-5 |
Soph. |
G |
| Jalen Brunson |
Villanova |
Big East |
6-3 |
Jr. |
G |
| Jeffrey Carroll |
Oklahoma St. |
Big 12 |
6-6 |
Sr. |
G/F |
| Jevon Carter |
West Virginia |
Big 12 |
6-2 |
Sr. |
G |
| Bonzie Colson |
Notre Dame |
ACC |
6-6 |
Sr. |
F |
| Mike Daum |
South Dakota St. |
The Summit League |
6-9 |
Jr. |
F |
| Angel Delgado |
Seton Hall |
Big East |
6-10 |
Sr. |
C |
| Hamidou Diallo |
Kentucky |
SEC |
6-5 |
Fr. |
G |
| Trevon Duval |
Duke |
ACC |
6-3 |
Fr. |
G |
| Vincent Edwards |
Purdue |
Big Ten |
6-8 |
Sr. |
F |
| Jacob Evans |
Cincinnati |
The American |
6-6 |
Jr. |
G/F |
| Matt Farrell |
Notre Dame |
ACC |
6-1 |
Sr. |
G |
| Marcus Foster |
Creighton |
Big East |
6-3 |
Sr. |
G |
| Devonte' Graham |
Kansas |
Big 12 |
6-2 |
Sr. |
G |
| Rob Gray |
Houston |
The American |
6-1 |
Sr. |
G |
| Ethan Happ |
Wisconsin |
Big Ten |
6-10 |
Jr. |
F |
| Aaron Holiday |
UCLA |
Pac-12 |
6-1 |
Jr. |
G |
| Chandler Hutchison |
Boise State |
Mountain West |
6-7 |
Sr. |
G |
| Jaren Jackson Jr. |
Michigan St. |
Big Ten |
6-11 |
Fr. |
F |
| Kevin Knox |
Kentucky |
SEC |
6-9 |
Fr. |
F |
| Ben Lammers |
Georgia Tech |
ACC |
6-10 |
Sr. |
C |
| Jock Landale |
Saint Mary's |
WCC |
6-11 |
Sr. |
C |
| Kelan Martin |
Butler |
Big East |
6-7 |
Sr. |
F |
| Nate Mason |
Minnesota |
Big Ten |
6-2 |
Sr. |
G |
| Yante Maten |
Georgia |
SEC |
6-8 |
Sr. |
F |
| Bryant McIntosh |
Northwestern |
Big Ten |
6-3 |
Sr. |
G |
| Jordan McLaughlin |
USC |
Pac-12 |
6-1 |
Sr. |
G |
| Chimezie Metu |
USC |
Pac-12 |
6-11 |
Jr. |
F |
| Shake Milton |
SMU |
The American |
6-6 |
Jr. |
G |
| Malik Newman |
Kansas |
Big 12 |
6-3 |
Soph. |
G |
| Michael Porter Jr. |
Missouri |
SEC |
6-10 |
Fr. |
F |
| Collin Sexton |
Alabama |
SEC |
6-3 |
Fr. |
G |
| Landry Shamet |
Wichita State |
The American |
6-4 |
Soph. |
G |
| Reid Travis |
Stanford |
Pac-12 |
6-8 |
Jr. |
F |
| Allonzo Trier |
Arizona |
Pac-12 |
6-5 |
Jr. |
G |
| Moritz Wagner |
Michigan |
Big Ten |
6-11 |
Jr. |
F |
| Robert Williams |
Texas A&M |
SEC |
6-10 |
Soph. |
F |
| Johnathan Williams |
Gonzaga |
WCC |
6-9 |
Sr. |
F |
| Trae Young |
Oklahoma |
Big 12 |
6-2 |
Fr. |
G |