Duke’s Zion Williamson among five freshmen on Wooden Award Midseason List; Big Ten places seven on list

Duke’s Zion Williamson was among five college freshmen named Wednesday to the John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 list, announced by the Los Angeles Athletic Club. The award is presented to the nation’s most outstanding basketball player.

The other freshmen are Duke’s R.J. Barrett, Kentucky’s Keldon Johnson, Michigan’s Iggy Brazdeikis and Indiana’s Romeo Langford.

The Big Ten leads all conferences with seven players while the ACC has five.

The Big East has three players in St. John’s junior Shamorie Ponds, Seton Hall junior Myles Powell and Marquette Markus Howard.

Three Canadians made the list in Barrett, Brazdeikis and Virginia Tech’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker.

Chosen by a poll of national college basketball experts, the midseason list is comprised of 25 student-athletes who are front-runners for the sport’s most prestigious honor, based on their performances during the first half of the 2018-19 season.

The Wooden Award All American Team will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the 2019 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Wendy’s during the ESPN College Basketball Awards on April 12.

 

John R. Wooden Award Midseason List

Name	School	Conference	Height	Class	Position
Nickeil Alexander-Walker	Virginia Tech	ACC	6-5	So.	G
RJ Barrett	Duke	ACC	6-7	Fr.	F
Ignas Brazdeikis	Michigan	Big Ten	6-7	Fr.	F
Jordan Caroline	Nevada	Mountain West	6-7	Sr.	G/F
Jarrett Culver	Texas Tech	Big 12	6-6	So.	G
Mike Daum	South Dakota State	Summit League	6-9	Sr.	F
Carsen Edwards	Purdue	Big Ten	6-1	Jr.	G
Rui Hachimura	Gonzaga	WCC	6-8	Jr.	F
Ethan Happ	Wisconsin	Big Ten	6-10	Sr.	F
Markus Howard	Marquette	Big East	5-11	Jr.	G
De’Andre Hunter	Virginia	ACC	6-7	So.	G
Keldon Johnson	Kentucky	SEC	6-6	Fr.	G
Romeo Langford	Indiana	Big Ten	6-6	Fr.	G
Dedric Lawson	Kansas	Big 12	6-9	Jr.	F
Caleb Martin	Nevada	Mountain West	6-7	Sr.	F
Luke Maye	North Carolina	ACC	6-8	Sr.	F
Ja Morant	Murray State	Ohio Valley	6-3	So.	G
Jordan Murphy	Minnesota	Big Ten	6-7	Sr.	F
James Palmer Jr.	Nebraska	Big Ten	6-6	Sr.	G
Shamorie Ponds	St. John’s	Big East	6-1	Jr.	G
Myles Powell	Seton Hall	Big East	6-2	Jr.	G
Admiral Schofield	Tennessee	SEC	6-6	Sr.	G
Grant Williams	Tennessee	SEC	6-7	Jr.	F
Zion Williamson	Duke	ACC	6-7	Fr.	F
Cassius Winston	Michigan State	Big Ten	6-1	Jr.	G