KU Jayhawks’ Ochai Agbaji among 20 still in consideration for player of year award
Kansas senior guard Ochai Agbaji has been chosen to the John R. Wooden Award late season top 20 watch list, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced Monday on ESPNU.
A panel of national college basketball experts compiled a list of 20 players who are leading candidates for the Wooden Award, which will be presented to college men’s basketball’s top player for the 2021-22 season.
Others on the top 20 watch list: Max Abmas, Oral Roberts; James Akinjo, Baylor; Paolo Banchero, Duke; Kofi Cockburn, Illinois; Johnny Davis, Wisconsin; Zach Edey and Jaden Ivey, Purdue; Collin Gillespie, Villanova; Johnny Juzang, UCLA; Chet Holmgren and Drew Timme, Gonzaga; Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana; E.J. Liddell, Ohio State; Bennedict Mathurin, Arizona; Isaiah Mobley, USC; Keegan Murray, Iowa; David Roddy, Colorado State; Jabari Smith, Auburn and Oscar Tshiebwe, West Virginia.
Agbaji, who leads the Big 12 in scoring at 20.9 points a game, is vying to become the third KU player to win the Wooden Award, joining Danny Manning (1988) and Frank Mason (2017).
Agbaji, a graduate of Oak Park High School, is second in the Big 12 and 10th nationally in three-point field goal percentage (46.4%,) He’s second in the league in three-point field goals made per game (3.2, 21st nationally). Agbaji has scored 20 or more points in 12 games. He had a career-high 37 points in KU’s double-overtime win over Texas Tech on Jan. 24 at Allen Fieldhouse..
Players not chosen to the late season list are still eligible for the 15-player Wooden Award national ballot. Nearly 1,000 voters will rank in order 10 of those 15 players when voting opens prior to the NCAA Tournament. The Wooden Award All-America Team will be announced the week of the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. The 2022 Wooden winner will be revealed in April at the conclusion of the NCAA Tournament.
This story was originally published February 1, 2022 at 9:34 AM with the headline "KU Jayhawks’ Ochai Agbaji among 20 still in consideration for player of year award."
