Gonzaga stars Drew Timme and Chet Holmgren lead the 15-player national ballot revealed Saturday for the John R. Wooden Award.
Timme, a junior, averages a team-high 17.6 points and 6.4 rebounds the #1-ranked Bulldogs. Holmgren, a freshman, averages 14.4 points and a team-high 9.7 rebounds.
Auburn also has two players on the ballot with Walker Kessler and Jabari Smith.
Smith, Holmgren and Duke’s Paolo Banchero are the three freshmen who made the ballot for the national player of the year award.
Kentucky forward Oscar Tshiebwe is widely regarded as the Wooden Award favorite, entering Saturday with 16.9 points, 15.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocked shots per game.
The other players on the ballot, listed alphabetically, are Ochai Agbaji of Kansas, Kofi Cockburn of Illinois, Johnny Davis of Wisconsin, Collin Gillespie of Villanova, Jaden Ivey of Purdue, Johnny Juzang of UCLA, E.J. Liddell of Ohio State, Bennedict Mathurin of Arizona and Keegan Murray of Iowa.