Wichita State's Cleanthony early fires up his teammates in a huddle before their game against Western Kentucky on Tuesday morning at Charles Koch Arena. The Wichita Eagle

Wichita State Shockers

Wichita State’s Early, Kansas freshmen on Wooden Award list

Eagle staff

November 12, 2013 1:47 PM

Wichita State senior Cleanthony Early and Kansas freshmen Andrew Wiggins, Wayne Selden and Joel Embiid are among the 50 preseason candidates for the Wooden Award announced Tuesday.

The Wooden Award is given to college basketball’s player of the year and previous winners include Larry Bird (1979), Michael Jordan (1984) and Tim Duncan (1997).

Early, a 6-foot-8 forward, is the preseason Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. He averaged 13.9 points and 5.4 rebounds as a junior.

Wiggins, a 6-8 guard, was the Naismith High School Player of the Year and the Gatorade Athlete of the Year while at West Virginia’s Huntington Prep. Selden, a 6-5 guard, earned McDonald’s All-American honors as a high school senior at Tilton (N.H.) School. Embiid, a 7-foot center, ranked No. 6 on ESPN.com’s top 100 list of recruits.

The Wooden Award will be presented the weekend of April 11-12.