Wooden Award finalists: Purdue star Zach Edey listed for college basketball's top player
Purdue basketball forward Zach Edey was named a finalist for the Wooden Award on Saturday, an honor given to the nation's best college basketball player.
The Boilermakers forward is averaging 24.1 points and 11.7 rebounds per game this season, which rank second and third nationally.
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Edey — whose Boilermakers conclude their regular season vs. Wisconsin on Sunday — is expected to be among the favorites for the award. He's looking to become only the second player ever to win the honor in back-to-back seasons, joining Virginia's Ralph Sampson, who won the award twice in 1981-82 and 1982-83.
Here's the full list of Wooden Award finalists:
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2023-24 Wooden Award finalists
Here are the 15 finalists for the Wooden Award:
Purdue forward Zach Edey
Tennessee guard Dalton Knecht
Auburn forward Johni Broome
North Carolina guard RJ Davis
Kansas forward Hunter Dickinson
Duke forward Kyle Filipowski
Dayton forward DaRon Holmes II
Marquette guard Tyler Kolek
San Diego State forward Jaedon LeDee
Arizona guard Caleb Love
Kansas guard Kevin McCullar Jr.
UConn guard Tristen Newton
Kentucky guard Antonio Reeves
Alabama guard Mark Sears
Houston guard Jamal Shead
Wooden Award repeat winners
Only one college basketball player has ever won back-to-back Wooden Awards.
Sampson won the award twice, first in 1981-82 and again in 1982-83, before being selected No. 1 overall in the 1983 NBA Draft. Ironically, Sampson, like Edey, stands 7-foot-4.
Zach Edey stats
Career averages: 17.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.7 blocks per game
Season averages: 24.1 points, 11.7 rebounds, 2.2 blocks per game
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Wooden Award finalists: Purdue star Zach Edey listed with 15 players