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OU freshman Trae Young on Wooden Award preseason watch list

By Chip Rouse

HOUSTON, TEXAS - APRIL 02: A general view of the game between the Villanova Wildcats and the Oklahoma Sooners during the NCAA Men's Final Four Semifinal at NRG Stadium on April 2, 2016 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TEXAS - APRIL 02: A general view of the game between the Villanova Wildcats and the Oklahoma Sooners during the NCAA Men's Final Four Semifinal at NRG Stadium on April 2, 2016 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images) /
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Five-star freshman point guard Trae Young is one of 50 college basketball players at all Division I levels who have been named to the Preseason Top 50 for the John R. Wooden Award.

The 50 student-athletes are considered the early front runners for one of the premier individual national awards for a Division I player. Young is one of six players from the Big 12 and 10 freshmen nationally who have been named to the Preseason Top 50.

On the court performance is the major criterion for the Wooden Award, but candidates must also demonstrate that they are making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 grade point average.

A 6-foot, 2-inch point guard from nearby Norman North High School, Young tipped off his college career on Sunday, scoring a team-high 15 points in Oklahoma’s season-opening win over Nebraska-Omaha. He also contributed 10 assists, six rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots to his day’s work.

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He followed that up with a 22-point, 13-assist performance in the Sooners’ 108-69 rout of Ball State on Wednesday.

Young averaged 42 points a game in high school and was the Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Oklahoma in 2016 and 2017.

The Sooner point guard is joined on the Wooden Preseason Top 50 list by fellow Big 12 players senior Devonte Graham and sophomore Malik Newman of Kansas, redshirt sophomore Jeffrey Carroll of Oklahoma State, freshman Mohamed Bamba of Texas and senior Jevon Carter of West Virginia.

Two former Oklahoma Sooners are previous winners of the Wooden Award are Blake Griffin (2009) and Buddy Hield (2016). Oklahoma is the only school to have multiple winners of the prestigious award in the past 14 years.

Later in the season, the candidate list will be reduced to 15 players. The winner of the 42nd annual John R. Wooden Award will be announced on April 6.

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