The 2014-15 Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 watch list released on Monday features 10 players from the Big 12. League favorite Kansas leads the conference with four selections — a number matched only by the top-ranked (and tonight’s opponent in the Champions Classic) Kentucky Wildcats. Five other Big 12 schools are also represented on the list, including Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia. The conference most recently won the award when Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin took home the honor at the end of the 2008-09 season.
This year’s watch list features three Big 12 freshmen, all of whom were top 10 recruits according to Rivals. Kansas’ Cliff Alexander began the season by playing 12 minutes in a 69-59 victory over UC Santa Barbara last Friday, scoring nine points and grabbing four rebounds behind the more experienced frontcourt players, Perry Ellis and Jamari Traylor. The second Kansas freshman on the list, Kelly Oubre Jr., played only four minutes in Friday’s contest. Oubre has struggled to find his place in Bill Self’s rotation, playing behind sophomore Brannen Greene and freshman Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and having a minimal impact against UCSB. While Oubre struggled, Texas center Myles Turner opened the season with a bang against North Dakota State, scoring 15 points and pulling down six rebounds in 20 minutes of playing time in the 85-50 victory. He followed up that performance with a 10-point, seven-rebound, six-block game in an 85-53 win over Alcorn State on Sunday night.
While all of these players are incredibly talented, it is difficult to predict the role they’ll play for their respective teams this season. The Wooden Award has only been won by a freshman on two occasions, with Texas’ Kevin Durant winning in 2007 and Kentucky’s Anthony Davis receiving the award in 2012. The watch list does feature some more experienced Kansas players, including Ellis and sophomore Wayne Selden, but it is missing some of the Longhorns’ more experienced pieces. In particular, senior forward Jonathan Holmes did not make the list despite averaging 12.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game last season. He figures to be one of the most important pieces on a team that will aim to challenge Kansas for the Big 12 title.
Irrespective of Holmes’ snub, the Big 12 saw its fair share of other upperclassmen receive some recognition. Ellis, a junior, made the list after averaging 13.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per game last year. While Ellis likely won’t become a 20/10 player this season, Bill Self expects that the big man “can average 16 or 18” points while leading the Jayhawks in scoring. Another upperclassman to make the list was Iowa State’s Georges Niang. Niang, a favorite for Big 12 Player of the Year (according to RTC’s contributors), has already posted one of the best stat lines of a young season — 30 points, nine rebounds, and five assists in a 93-82 win over Oakland. Niang is a versatile offensive threat who will be the focus of the Cyclones’ attack this season. Another potential Big 12 POY candidate, West Virginia’s Juwan Staten, was also selected to the watch list. Staten is averaging 15.0 points, 5.0 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game in the Mountaineers’ two victories this season, and his coach, Bob Huggins, called him the best point guard in the country last March, which may prove true if Staten can lead the Mountaineers to the NCAA Tournament. The remaining schools represented on the list are Oklahoma and Kansas State. Buddy Hield, a junior for the Sooners, averaged 16.5 points in 32.1 minutes per game last season. He’ll be the leading scorer for Oklahoma this season and showed off his offensive game in its opener against Southeastern Louisiana, scoring 25 points while hitting seven three-pointers. Representing Kansas State is Marcus Foster. Foster impressed during his freshman season in Manhattan, averaging 15.5 points per game, and could see a breakout season as a sophomore that puts him in the national spotlight.
The Big 12 has a number of players who can make a run at the Wooden Award this year, but it is too soon to place the crown on any of the league’s freshmen at the expense of its more experienced upperclassmen. Players like Alexander, Oubre and Turner could all play their way into the bigger discussion throughout the year, but for now it’s best to go with what we know in the more seasoned veterans that include the likes of Holmes, Ellis, Niang and Staten.