Edey, Knecht leading list of Wooden Award finalists

Jeff Borzello, ESPN Personnel WriterMar 9, 2024, 11:42 AM ET

Close

• Basketball recruiting insider.
• Signed up with ESPN in 2014.
• Graduate of University of Delaware.Reigning Wooden Award winner Zach Edey and Tennessee star Dalton Knecht were among the 15 finalists called to the males’s nationwide tally Saturday early morning, as revealed on ESPN’s”College GameDay.”Edey, Purdue’s 7-foot-4 center, heads into the final weekend of the regular season as the front-runner to win the Wood Award, provided annually to the best college basketball player in the nation. He is aiming to be the very first repeat winner considering that Virginia’s Ralph Sampson in 1982 and 1983. After balancing 22.3 points and 12.9 rebounds last season to run away with the award, Edey has actually been perhaps more dominant this project. He is averaging 24.1 points(second in the country)and 11.7 rebounds(third) while blocking 2.2 shots and shooting 62.3% from the field.Editor’s Picks 2 Related He led Purdue to its second successive straight-out Huge Ten regular-season

  championship,

  choosing 28 points and 8 rebounds in Tuesday’s title-clinching win at Illinois.Tennessee’s Knecht, the previous junior college and Northern Colorado transfer, is likely in 2nd position entering

  the postseason. He has an impressive collection of single-game performances, including 39 points against both Auburn and Florida, 37 points versus North Carolina and 36 points versus Georgia. Knecht is averaging 20.7 points on the season, however he has actually been even much better in conference play, putting up 24.6 points and shooting 42.7% from 3-point variety in 17 games versus SEC opponents.Other leading prospects consist of North Carolina’s RJ Davis, who ranks ninth nationally in points per game (21.5)and scored 42 in a win over Miami last

  week; Houston’s Jamal Shead, perhaps the very best defender in the nation and the leader of the top-ranked Cougars; Marquette’s Tyler Kolek, the nation’s assist leader; and Arizona guard Caleb Love, who is having the most productive and efficient of his career after moving from North Carolina.Two players on the national tally weren’t on the Late Season Top 20 list: Shead and Alabama’s Mark Sears. Sears has actually been on a tear to end the season, scoring at least 20 points

  in 12 of his last 13 games, consisting of 33 this week versus Florida. He is averaging 21.1 points and shooting 44.2 %from 3. The males’s Wood Award has been given out every year since 1977, starting with UCLA’s Marques Johnson.Complete nationwide tally for the 2024 John R. Wooden Award: Johni Broome, Auburn RJ Davis, North Carolina Hunter Dickinson, Kansas Zach Edey, Purdue Kyle Filipowski, Duke DaRon Holmes II, Dayton Dalton Knecht, Tennessee Tyler Kolek, Marquette Jaedon

  LeDee, San Diego State Caleb Love, Arizona Kevin McCullar Jr., Kansas Tristen Newton, UConn Antonio Reeves, Kentucky Mark Sears, Alabama Jamal Shead, Houston