The John R. Wooden Award is considered the most prestigious Player of the Year. Presented to the best men’s and women’s player in college basketball and a “legend of coaching,” the Wooden Award honors some of the best in the game.
This year’s Wooden Awards will follow the Final Four at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Find out when the awards are taking place, how to watch them, and more about the finalists here.
Date, Time, and Finalists For the Wooden Award
The Wooden Award winners and the top five All-America Team members for women and men will be honored in Los Angeles on Friday, April 11, at 8 p.m. EETon ESPN+.
This year, the men’s Wooden Award All-America Team consisted of Auburn’s Johni Broome, Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr., Houston’s LJ Cryer, Duke’s Cooper Flagg, Marquette’s Kam Jones, Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner, Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier, Alabama’s Mark Sears, Purdue’s Braden Smith, and Wisconsin’s John Tonje.
The top five finalists for the Wooden Award are Broome, Clayton, Flagg, Sears, and Smith. Flagg is considered the overwhelming favorite to win the award. Purdue’s Zach Edey is the two-time defending Wooden Award winner.
On the women’s side, the All-America Team consists of Kentucky’s Georgia Amoore, UCLA’s Lauren Betts, Texas’ Madison Booker, UConn’s Paige Bueckers, Florida State’s Ta’Niya Latson, LSU’s Aneesah Morrow, TCU’s Hailey Van Lith, USC’s JuJu Watkins and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles.
The top five finalists for the Wooden Award are Betts, Booker, Bueckers, Hidalgo, and Watkins, with Watkins considered the overwhelming favorite to win. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is the two-time defending Wooden Award winner.
KEEP READING: What Is the Difference Between the Wooden Award and the Naismith Award?
Gonzaga head coach Mark Few is set to be honored with the Legends of Coaching Award, a lifetime achievement award for coaches who exemplify Coach Wooden’s high standards of coaching success and personal achievement. Dean Smith won the inaugural award in 1999, and John Calipari was honored most recently in 2024.
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