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The final 15-player ballot for the men’s Wooden Award was released on Saturday and Wisconsin Badgers sophomore guard Johnny Davis made the cut. Davis is one of five Big Ten players remaining on the shortlist.
If you can’t read the embedded tweet below, the other Big Ten players are Kofi Cockburn of Illinois, Jaden Ivey of Purdue, E.J. Liddell of Ohio State and Keegan Murray of Iowa. As many have noted, this would be a killer first-team All-Big Ten squad this year as well. Purdue’s Zach Edey and Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis were on the top-20 list, but will not be considered any longer.
#Badgers sophomore Johnny Davis among 15 finalists for the Wooden Award. Big Ten leads all conferences with five players on final ballot: Davis, Illinois' Kofi Cockburn, Purdue's Jaden Ivey, Ohio State's E.J. Liddell and Iowa's Keegan Murray.
— Tom Oates (@TomOatesWSJ) March 5, 2022
Davis is the only Big Ten player to lead his team in ppg (20.3), rpg (8.3) and apg (2.3) and he has done even better when playing conference competition, ranking second in the Big Ten in points (20.4 ppg) and third in rebounds (9.1 rpg). Even more impressively, Davis leads the nation in scoring vs. Top 25 teams (24.1 ppg & 8.5 rpg), and leads all major conference players with 22.5 ppg away from home.
He is also a top-five finalist for the Jerry West Award (top shooting guard in the country) and was named a mid-season All-American by multiple publications. Davis would be the second Badger to win this award along with Frank Kaminsky, who won it for the 2014-15 season.
Gonzaga has two players on the list, big men Drew Timme (WCC Player of the Year) and freshman (and potential No. 1 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft) Chet Holmgren, while Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe is considered to be the favorite to win the award. He leads the nation with 15.3 rebounds to go along with a team-high 16.9 points and 1.5 blocks.