University of North Carolina Athletics
Cole Anthony
Photo by: Andy Mead
Anthony Grabs Spot On Wooden Award Watch List
November 5, 2019 | Men's Basketball
CHAPEL HILL – The John R. Wooden Award 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.
North Carolina freshman point guard Cole Anthony made the list.
Several universities boast multiple players on the list: Florida (Kerry Blackshear Jr., Scottie Lewis, and Andwew Nembhard) leads all schools with three selections, while Davidson (Kellan Grady and Jon Axel Gudmundsson), Duke (Vernon Carey Jr. and Tre Jones), Kansas (Udoka Azubuike and Devon Dotson), Kentucky (Ashton Hagans and Tyrese Maxey), Maryland (Anthony Cowan Jr. and Jalen Smith), Memphis (Precious Achiuwa and James Wiseman), Utah State (Sam Merrill and Neemias Queta), and Washington (Jaden McDaniels and Isaiah Stewart) each have two selections on the Preseason Top 50.
Of the 50 players on the preseason list, 34 are upperclassmen, including 22 seniors. The recent trend of recognizing outstanding freshmen continues with ten named to the list: Anthony, Memphis' Achiuwa and Wiseman, Duke's Carey Jr, Georgia's Anthony Edwards, Florida's Lewis, Airzona's Nico Mannion, Kentucky's Maxey, and Washington's McDaniels and Stewart.
The Preseason Top 50 list represents 12 conferences. The Pac-12 leads all conferences with 8 selections, followed by the Big East and SEC with seven apiece, the Big Ten with six, the ACC with five, the Big 12 with four, the American and WCC with three apiece, the A-10 and Mountain West with two each, and the America East, Conference USA, and Horizon League with one selection apiece.
The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2020 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 2020 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Wendy's during the ESPN College Basketball Awards on Friday, April 10, 2020.
2019-20 Wooden Award Preseason Watch List:
*indicates player was selected to the 2018-19 Wooden Award All American
North Carolina freshman point guard Cole Anthony made the list.
Several universities boast multiple players on the list: Florida (Kerry Blackshear Jr., Scottie Lewis, and Andwew Nembhard) leads all schools with three selections, while Davidson (Kellan Grady and Jon Axel Gudmundsson), Duke (Vernon Carey Jr. and Tre Jones), Kansas (Udoka Azubuike and Devon Dotson), Kentucky (Ashton Hagans and Tyrese Maxey), Maryland (Anthony Cowan Jr. and Jalen Smith), Memphis (Precious Achiuwa and James Wiseman), Utah State (Sam Merrill and Neemias Queta), and Washington (Jaden McDaniels and Isaiah Stewart) each have two selections on the Preseason Top 50.
Of the 50 players on the preseason list, 34 are upperclassmen, including 22 seniors. The recent trend of recognizing outstanding freshmen continues with ten named to the list: Anthony, Memphis' Achiuwa and Wiseman, Duke's Carey Jr, Georgia's Anthony Edwards, Florida's Lewis, Airzona's Nico Mannion, Kentucky's Maxey, and Washington's McDaniels and Stewart.
The Preseason Top 50 list represents 12 conferences. The Pac-12 leads all conferences with 8 selections, followed by the Big East and SEC with seven apiece, the Big Ten with six, the ACC with five, the Big 12 with four, the American and WCC with three apiece, the A-10 and Mountain West with two each, and the America East, Conference USA, and Horizon League with one selection apiece.
The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2020 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 2020 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Wendy's during the ESPN College Basketball Awards on Friday, April 10, 2020.
2019-20 Wooden Award Preseason Watch List:
| Name | School | Conference | Height | Class | Position |
| Precious Achiuwa | Memphis | American | 6-9 | Fr. | F |
| Ty-Shon Alexander | Creighton | Big East | 6-4 | Jr. | G |
| Cole Anthony | North Carolina | ACC | 6-3 | Fr. | G |
| Udoka Azubuike | Kansas | Big 12 | 7-0 | Sr. | C |
| Kamar Baldwin | Butler | Big East | 6-1 | Sr. | G |
| Desmond Bane | TCU | Big 12 | 6-6 | Sr. | G |
| Charles Bassey | Western Kentucky | Conference USA | 6-11 | So. | C |
| Saddiq Bey | Villanova | Big East | 6-8 | So. | F |
| Kerry Blackshear Jr. | Florida | SEC | 6-10 | Sr. | F |
| Vernon Carey Jr. | Duke | ACC | 6-10 | Fr. | C |
| Yoeli Childs | BYU | WCC | 6-8 | Sr. | F |
| Anthony Cowan Jr. | Maryland | Big Ten | 6-0 | Sr. | G |
| Jarron Cumberland | Cincinnati | American | 6-5 | Sr. | G |
| Antoine Davis | Detroit Mercy | Horizon League | 6-1 | So. | G |
| Mamadi Diakite | Virginia | ACC | 6-9 | Sr. | F |
| Alpha Diallo | Providence | Big East | 6-7 | Sr. | G |
| Ayo Dosunmu | Illinois | Big Ten | 6-5 | So. | G |
| Devon Dotson | Kansas | Big 12 | 6-2 | So. | G |
| Anthony Edwards | Georgia | SEC | 6-5 | Fr. | G |
| CJ Elleby | Washington State | Pac-12 | 6-6 | So. | F |
| Jordan Ford | Saint Mary's | WCC | 6-1 | Sr. | G |
| Kellan Grady | Davidson | A-10 | 6-5 | Jr. | G |
| Jon Axel Gudmundsson | Davidson | A-10 | 6-5 | Sr. | G |
| Ashton Hagans | Kentucky | SEC | 6-3 | So. | G |
| Tyrese Haliburton | Iowa State | Big 12 | 6-5 | So. | G |
| Markus Howard* | Marquette | Big East | 5-11 | Sr. | G |
| Tre Jones | Duke | ACC | 6-3 | So. | G |
| Anthony Lamb | Vermont | America East | 6-6 | Sr. | F |
| Scottie Lewis | Florida | SEC | 6-5 | Fr. | G |
| Nico Mannion | Arizona | Pac-12 | 6-6 | Fr. | G |
| Naji Marshall | Xavier | Big East | 6-7 | Jr. | F |
| Tyrese Maxey | Kentucky | SEC | 6-3 | Fr. | G |
| Jaden McDaniels | Washington | Pac-12 | 6-9 | Fr. | F |
| Sam Merrill | Utah State | Mountain West | 6-5 | Sr. | G |
| Andrew Nembhard | Florida | SEC | 6-5 | So. | G |
| Jordan Nwora | Louisville | ACC | 6-7 | Jr. | F |
| Reggie Perry | Mississippi State | SEC | 6-5 | Sr. | G |
| Myles Powell | Seton Hall | Big East | 6-2 | Sr. | G |
| Payton Pritchard | Oregon | Pac-12 | 6-2 | Sr. | G |
| Neemias Queta | Utah State | Mountain West | 7-0 | So. | C |
| Nick Rakocevic | USC | Pac-12 | 6-11 | Sr. | F |
| Jalen Smith | Maryland | Big Ten | 6-10 | So. | F |
| Lamar Stevens | Penn State | Big Ten | 6-8 | Sr. | F |
| Isaiah Stewart | Washington | Pac-12 | 6-9 | Fr. | F |
| Killian Tillie | Gonzaga | WCC | 6-10 | Sr. | F |
| Tres Tinkle | Oregon State | Pac-12 | 6-7 | Sr. | F |
| Kaleb Wesson | Ohio State | Big Ten | 6-9 | Jr. | F |
| Cassius Winston* | Michigan State | Big Ten | 6-1 | Sr. | G |
| James Wiseman | Memphis | American | 7-1 | Fr. | C |
| McKinley Wright IV | Colorado | Pac-12 | 6-0 | Jr. | G |
*indicates player was selected to the 2018-19 Wooden Award All American
Players Mentioned
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