Flagg, Broome heading Wooden Award final five

Jeff BorzelloApr 1, 2025, 06:34 PM ET

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• Basketball recruiting expert.
• Joined ESPN in 2014.
• Graduate of University of Delaware.Duke’s Cooper Flagg and Auburn’s Johni Broome headlined the Wooden Award’s list of five finalists as well as the All-America team, both of which were revealed on Tuesday night.The award is offered annually to the very best college basketball player in the nation. Flagg and Broome have been the viewed favorites for the Wood Award considering that early in the season, with Broome starting the project with a dominant nonconference performance before Flagg made up ground with amazing performances in ACC play.Flagg, the precise leader to be the No. 1 pick in June’s NBA draft, won both ACC Player of the Year and Novice of the Year. He’s balancing 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 helps while leading Duke to the program’s very first Final 4 considering that Mike Krzyzewski retired. Flagg’s signature efficiency came back in January, when he chose 42 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists in a win over Notre Dame, setting the ACC freshman record for points in a game.After shaking off a late-season ankle injury that kept him out of the ACC tournament semifinal and title games, Flagg has actually been excellent in the NCAA competition– highlighted by a 30-point, 6-rebound, 7-assist performance against Arizona in the Sweet 16. Broome was dominant to start the season, raising Auburn to the No. 1 area in the rankings with big stat line after big stat line.

  He had 23 points and 19 rebounds against North Carolina; 21 points and 10 rebounds versus Iowa State; 21 points and 16 rebounds against Memphis; 20 points and 12 boards against Duke; 21 points and 20 rebounds against Ohio State; and 23 points and 11 rebounds versus Purdue. All of those games took place in a one-month span.Editor’s Picks 2 Related He’s balancing 18.7 points and 10.9 rebounds and just amounted to 47 points and 30 rebounds in wins over Michigan and Michigan State to advance to the Last Four.Flagg and Broome

  are joined as Wooden Award finalists by Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr., Alabama’s Mark Sears and Purdue’s Braden Smith.Clayton has actually been the very best guard in the country over the previous 2 months, leading Florida to its very first Final 4 appearance since 2014. He’s averaging 18.1 points and 4.2 helps for the season but has scored a minimum of 22 points in seven of his past nine games– consisting of 30 points in Florida’s Elite 8 win over Texas Tech.Sears was a preseason All-American going into the season and has lived up to the expectations despite a couple of missteps along the method. He completed the season averaging 18.6 points and 5.1 assists and had among the very best efficiencies in NCAA tournament history in Alabama’s Sweet 16

  win over BYU. He ended up with 34 points and eight assists, shooting 10-for-16 from 3-point range.With Zach Edey in the NBA, Smith took on greater duty within Purdue’s offense, averaging career highs in both scoring and helps. He balanced 15.8 points and finished the season ranked second in the country in helps, balancing 8.7 per game.The five extra players to be named to the Wood Award All-America team were Houston’s

  L.J. Cryer, Marquette’s Kam Jones, Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner, Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier and Wisconsin’s John Tonje.The men’s John R. Wooden Award has actually been offered every year since 1977, starting with UCLA star Marques Johnson. Purdue’s Edey won it in each of the previous two years, ending up being just the second men’s player to win the award twice, signing up with Ralph Sampson, who won it in 1982 and 1983.