In a men’s college basketball season headlined by the strength of the freshman class, the lists of Wooden Award finalists and All-America selections are no different. Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr., Duke’s Cameron Boozer and BYU’s AJ Dybantsa made the cut for both.
Boozer has been considered the frontrunner for the award for much of the season. The ACC Player of the Year averaged a double-double for the Blue Devils with the ninth-best scoring mark nationally (22.5 PPG) and the 12th-best rebounding average in the country (10.2 RPG), and recorded actual double-doubles in 22 of his 38 games. He also distributed 4.1 assists per game and made 39.1% of his shots from 3, powering Duke’s top-10 mark in adjusted offensive efficiency.
Dybantsa finished his season leading the country in scoring (25.5 PPG), recording 20 or more points in 28 games — the second-most for a Division I freshman over the last 20 seasons, per ESPN Research, and just two short of Kevin Durant’s 30 in 2006-07. Not far behind Durant and Dybantsa is Acuff, who finished his season with 26 games of 20-plus points to place him fourth on that same list. The SEC Player of the Year became the first athlete to lead the conference in points (23.5) and assists (6.4) per game since Pete Maravich in 1969-70.
The trio of first-year players are joined by a pair of veterans on both the Wooden Award finalist and All-America lists: Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg and Purdue’s Braden Smith. Lendeborg has led the Final Four-bound Wolverines in scoring (15.2 PPG) while Smith finished his senior season second in assists nationally (8.8 APG). Smith also broke Bobby Hurley’s all-time NCAA assists record to end his career with 1,932.
The other three freshmen who made the Wooden All-America team are Michigan State’s Jeremy Fears Jr., Houston’s Kingston Flemings and Illinois’ Keaton Wagler. Fears led the nation in assists (9.4 APG); his three games with at least 15 dishes were more than all other players in program history combined. Flemings led a veteran roster in scoring (16.1 PPG) and assists (5.2 APG). Wagler also has led his team in scoring (17.9 PPG) and assists (4.3 APG), with the Illini headed to Indianapolis for the Final Four.
Also on the All-America list are two stars whose seasons were ended early by injury: Iowa State’s Joshua Jefferson and Texas Tech’s JT Toppin. Jefferson missed the Cyclones’ last two NCAA tournament games with a sprained ankle but was one of the best all-around contributors in the country with career-highs in scoring (16.4 PPG), rebounding (7.4 RPG) and assists (4.8 APG). Toppin missed more time after, suffering an ACL tear in mid-February, but averaged a double-double (21.8 PPG, 10.8 RPG) for the Red Raiders.
Wooden Award Finalists
Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas
Cameron Boozer, Duke
AJ Dybantsa, BYU
Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan
Braden Smith, Purdue
Wooden All-American Team
Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas
Cameron Boozer, Duke
AJ Dybantsa, BYU
Jeremy Fears Jr., Michigan State
Kingston Flemings, Houston
Joshua Jefferson, Iowa State
Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan
Braden Smith, Purdue
JT Toppin, Texas Tech
Keaton Wagler, Illinois
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