The 15-player national ballot for the John R. Wooden Award has record-breaking Iowa Hawkeyes player Caitlin Clark as the front-runner. This information was revealed on ESPN’s “College GameDay” on Sunday.
Clark, who was just named Big Ten Player of the Year for the third time, is on the list with four other players who were just named conference players of the year: Cameron Brink of the Stanford Cardinals (Pac-12), Paige Bueckers of the UConn Huskies (Big East), Elizabeth Kitley of the Virginia Tech Hokies (ACC), and Angel Reese of the LSU Tigers (SEC).
JuJu Watkins of the USC Trojans and Hannah Hidalgo of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish were the other two freshmen that were included.
Georgia Amoore of the Hokies, Kamilla Cardoso of the South Carolina Gamecocks, Aaliyah Edwards of the Huskies, Mackenzie Holmes of the Indiana Hoosiers, Kiki Iriafen of the Cardinals, Ayoka Lee of the Kansas State Wildcats, Aneesah Morrow of LSU, and Alissa Pili of the Utah Utes complete the ballot.
Every year, the most exceptional player in women’s college basketball receives this honour. Two of the previous three awards went to Bueckers (2021) and Clark (2023).
After that, voters will select a 10-player All-America squad, and later in the spring, the Wooden Award winner will be declared.
