LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA — Not surprisingly, my top 25 nominees for the John R. Wooden Award mid-season list is heavily laced with players from North Carolina (four) and Kentucky (three) – 28 percent of the nominees, in fact.
There are four freshmen among the 25, Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist of Kentucky, Trey Burke of Michigan and Cody Zeller of Indiana. Two other freshmen, guards Austin Rivers of Duke and Kevin Pangos of Gonzaga, were my final two cuts.
The Atlantic Coast Conference (led by the Tar Heels, of course) is the most heavily represented conference with six selections.
Read them and weep, cheer or jeer . . .
Harrison Barnes North Carolina
Trey Burke Michigan
Deonte Burton Nevada
Isaiah Canaan Murray State
Anthony Davis Kentucky
Marcus Denmon Missouri
Draymond Green Michigan State
Jorge Gutierrez California
John Henson North Carolina
Kevin Jones West Virginia
Perry Jones III Baylor
Kris Joseph Syracuse
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Kentucky
Doron Lamb Kentucky
Jeremy Lamb Connecticut
Damian Lillard Weber State
Scott Machado Iona
Kendall Marshall North Carolina
Doug McDermott Creighton
Mike Moser UNLV
Mason Plumlee Duke
Thomas Robinson Kansas
Mike Scott Virginia
Jared Sullinger Ohio State
Cody Zeller Indiana
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