Trayce Jackson-Davis was one of 20 players named to the Wooden Award late season watch list Tuesday.
The Indiana sophomore center leads the Hoosiers with 20.1 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. He’s shooting 53.6 percent from the field, leads the Big Ten in free throws made and has 29 blocks in 16 games.
Jackson-Davis is one of seven Big Ten players on the list including Minnesota’s Marcus Carr, Iowa’s Luka Garza, Illinois’ Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn, Rutgers Ron Harper Jr. and Michigan’s Hunter Dickinson.
The full release from IU and the Los Angeles Athletic Club follows, including the full list of 20 finalists.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Los Angeles Athletic Club announced the John R. Wooden Award® presented by Wendy’s® Late Season Top 20 Watch List today on ESPNU, which included Indiana sophomore forward Trayce Jackson-Davis. Chosen by a poll of national college basketball experts based on their performances during the 2020-21 season thus far, the list comprises of 20 student-athletes who are front-runners for the sport’s most prestigious honor.
Jackson-Davis leads the Hoosiers averaging 20.1 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. He is shooting 53.6% from the field and is 4th in the country in free throws made (96) and leads the nation in free throws attempted (142). Overall in the Big Ten, he ranks 4th in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage and is 3rd in blocked shots. In league games only, he is 4th in scoring (19.4), rebounding (8.8) and blocked shots (1.6) and is 6th in field goal percentage (53.3).
Twice he has been named Big Ten Player of the Week. He scored a career-high 31 points against Stanford in the Maui Invitational and his most impressive performance came in a 25-point, 17 board effort at Florida State. He has five double-doubles this season.
The Big Ten leads all conferences with seven selections on the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20, followed by the Big East and WCC with three each, the ACC and Big 12 with two selections, and Conference USA, Pac-12, and American with one selection apiece.
The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2021 John R. Wooden Award Men’s Player of the Year presented by Wendy’s. Players not chosen to the late season list are still eligible for the Wooden Award™ National Ballot. The National Ballot consists of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the Wooden Award. Nearly 1,000 voters will rank in order 10 of those 15 players when voting opens prior to the NCAA Tournament and will allow voters to take into consideration performance during early round games. The Wooden Award All American Team™ will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the 2021 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Wendy’s following the NCAA Tournament in April.
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award Program hosts the most prestigious honors in college basketball recognizing the Wooden Award Most Outstanding Player for men and women, the Wooden Award All American Teams for men and women and the annual selection of the Wooden Award Legends of Coaching recipient. Honorees have proven to their university that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the John R. Wooden Award as set forth by Coach Wooden and the Wooden Award Steering Committee, including making progress towards graduation and maintaining at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA. Previous winners include Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97), Kevin Durant (’07), Candace Parker (’07; ’08), Maya Moore (’09; ’11), Chiney Ogwumike (’14), Breanna Stewart (’15; ’16) and last year’s recipients, Sabrina Ionescu of Oregon and Obi Toppin of Dayton.
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed nearly one million dollars to the universities’ general scholarship fund in the names of the Wooden Award All American recipients and has sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with the Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament brings together Special Olympics athletes and Wooden Award All Americans and coaches in attendance. It is hosted at the Los Angeles Athletic Club during the John R. Wooden Award Weekend.
Name School
Charles Bassey Western Kentucky
James Bouknight Connecticut
Jared Butler Baylor
Marcus Carr Minnesota
Justin Champagnie Pittsburgh
Kofi Cockburn Illinois
Cade Cunningham Oklahoma State
Hunter Dickinson Michigan
Ayo Dosunmu Illinois
Luka Garza* Iowa
Collin Gillespie Villanova
Quentin Grimes Houston
Ron Harper Jr. Rutgers
Trayce Jackson-Davis Indiana
Carlik Jones Louisville
Corey Kispert Gonzaga
Evan Mobley USC
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl Villanova
Jalen Suggs Gonzaga
Drew Timme Gonzaga
Find us on Facebook: thedailyhoosier
You can follow us on Twitter: @daily_hoosier
The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”
Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no additional cost to you.