John R. Wooden Award

For the Pac-12 Conference coaching award, see John R. Wooden Coach of the Year.

John R. Wooden Award

Coach John R. Wooden
Awarded for	the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players
Country	United States
Presented by	Los Angeles Athletic Club
History
First award	1977
Most recent	Zach Edey, Purdue (men's) Caitlin Clark, Iowa (women's)
Website	Official site

The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the All-America Teams.

The awards, given by the Los Angeles Athletic Club, are named in honor of John Wooden, the 1932 national collegiate basketball player of the year from Purdue. Wooden later taught and coached men's basketball at Indiana State and UCLA. Coach Wooden, whose teams at UCLA won ten NCAA championships, was the first man to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player and coach. His 1948 Indiana State team was the NAIB (now NAIA) National Finalist.

The award, which was originally given only to male athletes, was first given in 1977. Starting in 2004, the award was extended to women's basketball. Additionally, the Legends of Coaching Award was presented first in 1999.

Selection process

Men's award

Each year, the Award's National Advisory Board, a 26-member panel, selects approximately 20 candidates for Player of the Year and All-American Team honors. The candidates must be full-time students and have a cumulative grade point average of 2.00 or higher throughout their college career. Players who are nominated must have made outstanding contributions to team play, both offensively and defensively, and be model citizens, exhibiting strength of character both on and off the court.

The selection ballot is announced prior to the NCAA basketball tournament. The voters consist of 1,000 sportswriters and sportscasters representing the 50 states.

The top ten vote-getters are selected to the All-American Team, and the results are announced following the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament. The person who receives the most votes is named the Player of the Year, and the winner is announced following the NCAA championship game.

The Player of the Year is awarded a trophy consisting of five bronze figures. The player's school receives a duplicate trophy as well as a scholarship grant. The other top four members of the All-American Team receive an All-American Team trophy, a jacket, and a scholarship grant which goes to their school. Each coach of the top five All-American Team members also receives a jacket. The All-American Team members ranked six through ten receive an All-American Team trophy and a jacket, but their schools do not receive a scholarship.

Women's award

The criteria for the women's Player of the Year award and All-American Team honors are similar to those for the men. For the women's award, the National Advisory Board consists of 12 members, and approximately 15 candidates are selected for the ballot. The voters are 250 sportswriters and sportscasters.

In contrast to the men's All-American Team, only five members are selected for the women's team. The Player of the Year receives a trophy, and her school receives a duplicate trophy and a scholarship grant.

The trophy

The trophy features five bronze figures, each depicting one of the five major skills that Wooden believed that "total" basketball player must exhibit: rebounding, passing, shooting, dribbling, and defense.

The concept for the trophy originated with Wooden Award Chairman, Richard "Duke" Llewellyn. Work began on the trophy in 1975, and sculptor Don Winton, who had sculpted many top sports awards, was given the task of designing the model of the trophy.

The figures are bronze plated and attached to a pentagonal base plate. The tallest figure is 101⁄4 inches high (26 cm). The trophy's base is 71⁄2 inches high (19 cm), and is made from solid walnut. The total height of the trophy is 17+3⁄4 inches (45 cm), and it weighs 25 lb (11 kg).

Wooden Award winners

Men Season Player School Position Class 1976–77 Marques Johnson UCLA F Senior 1977–78 Phil Ford North Carolina PG Senior 1978–79 Larry Bird Indiana State SF Senior 1979–80 Darrell Griffith Louisville SG Senior 1980–81 Danny Ainge BYU SG Senior 1981–82 Ralph Sampson Virginia C Junior 1982–83 Ralph Sampson (2) Virginia (2) C Senior 1983–84 Michael Jordan North Carolina (2) SG Junior 1984–85 Chris Mullin St. John's SF / SG Senior 1985–86 Walter Berry St. John's (2) PF Senior 1986–87 David Robinson Navy C Senior 1987–88 Danny Manning Kansas PF Senior 1988–89 Sean Elliott Arizona SF Senior 1989–90 Lionel Simmons La Salle SF Senior 1990–91 Larry Johnson UNLV PF Senior 1991–92 Christian Laettner Duke F Senior 1992–93 Calbert Cheaney Indiana SF Senior 1993–94 Glenn Robinson Purdue SF / PF Sophomore 1994–95 Ed O'Bannon UCLA (2) SF Senior 1995–96 Marcus Camby UMass C Junior 1996–97 Tim Duncan Wake Forest C Senior 1997–98 Antawn Jamison North Carolina (3) PF Junior 1998–99 Elton Brand Duke (2) C Sophomore 1999–00 Kenyon Martin Cincinnati PF Senior 2000–01 Shane Battier Duke (3) SF / PF Senior 2001–02 Jason Williams Duke (4) PG Junior 2002–03 T. J. Ford Texas PG Sophomore 2003–04 Jameer Nelson Saint Joseph's PG Senior 2004–05 Andrew Bogut Utah C Sophomore 2005–06 JJ Redick Duke (5) SG Senior 2006–07 Kevin Durant Texas (2) SF Freshman 2007–08 Tyler Hansbrough North Carolina (4) PF Junior 2008–09 Blake Griffin Oklahoma PF Sophomore 2009–10 Evan Turner Ohio State SF Junior 2010–11 Jimmer Fredette BYU (2) PG Senior 2011–12 Anthony Davis Kentucky C Freshman 2012–13 Trey Burke Michigan PG Sophomore 2013–14 Doug McDermott Creighton SF / PF Senior 2014–15 Frank Kaminsky Wisconsin PF Senior 2015–16 Buddy Hield Oklahoma (2) SG Senior 2016–17 Frank Mason III Kansas (2) PG Senior 2017–18 Jalen Brunson Villanova PG Junior 2018–19 Zion Williamson Duke (6) SF / PF Freshman 2019–20 Obi Toppin Dayton PF Sophomore 2020–21 Luka Garza Iowa C Senior 2021–22 Oscar Tshiebwe Kentucky (2) C Junior 2022–23 Zach Edey Purdue (2) C Junior 2023–24 Zach Edey (2) Purdue (3) C Senior

Women Season Player School Position Class 1976–77 No award 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 Alana Beard Duke G Senior 2004–05 Seimone Augustus LSU G Junior 2005–06 Seimone Augustus (2) LSU (2) G Senior 2006–07 Candace Parker Tennessee C Junior 2007–08 Candace Parker (2) Tennessee (2) C Senior 2008–09 Maya Moore UConn F Sophomore 2009–10 Tina Charles UConn (2) C Senior 2010–11 Maya Moore (2) UConn (3) F Senior 2011–12 Brittney Griner Baylor C Junior 2012–13 Brittney Griner (2) Baylor (2) C Senior 2013–14 Chiney Ogwumike Stanford F Senior 2014–15 Breanna Stewart UConn (4) F Junior 2015–16 Breanna Stewart (2) UConn (5) F Senior 2016–17 Kelsey Plum Washington PG Senior 2017–18 A'ja Wilson South Carolina F Senior 2018–19 Sabrina Ionescu Oregon G Junior 2019–20 Sabrina Ionescu (2) Oregon (2) G Senior 2020–21 Paige Bueckers UConn (6) G Freshman 2021–22 Aliyah Boston South Carolina (2) F Junior 2022–23 Caitlin Clark Iowa G Junior 2023–24 Caitlin Clark (2) Iowa (2) G Senior

Trademark dispute

The Wooden family announced in August 2005 that he would no longer participate because of a trademark dispute concerning the use of his name. However, he never contested the use of his name prior to his death in 2010, and the award continues to bear his name. “I don’t want anything to interfere with the continuation of the award,” (Wooden) told The Associated Press at the time. In 2011 the Wooden Family began participation. Coach John Wooden's son, Jim, presented the Wooden Award to Brigham Young senior Jimmer Fredette. In 2012 John Wooden's grandson, Greg, on behalf of The Los Angeles Athletic Club, presented the Wooden Award to University of Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis. Greg Wooden made the announcement on ESPN College GameDay.

High School Player of the Year Award

The John R. Wooden High School Player of the Year awards are given to the most valuable player in each of the five divisions of the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section, and one Los Angeles City division.

Legends of Coaching Award

The Legends of Coaching Award recognizes the lifetime achievement of coaches who exemplify Coach Wooden's high standards of coaching success and personal achievement. When selecting the individual, the Wooden Award Committee considers a coach's character, success rate on the court, graduating rate of student athletes, his or her coaching philosophy, and identification with the goals of the John R. Wooden Award.

All listed honorees coached in the men's game unless otherwise noted. The first recipient who was never a head coach in NCAA Division I was 2021 recipient Dave Yanai, whose entire head coaching career was in NCAA Division II.

Dean Smith's Legends of Coaching Award.

Pat Summitt was the first female coach selected.

Mike Montgomery won the award while still at Stanford.

Jim Calhoun of Connecticut received the award in 2005.

Season	Coach	School(s)
1998–99	Dean Smith	North Carolina
1999–00	Mike Krzyzewski	Duke
2000–01	Lute Olson	Arizona
2001–02	Denny Crum	Louisville
2002–03	Roy Williams	Kansas
2003–04	Mike Montgomery	Stanford
2004–05	Jim Calhoun	Connecticut
2005–06	Jim Boeheim	Syracuse
2006–07	Gene Keady	Purdue
2007–08	Pat Summitt	Tennessee (women)
2008–09	Rick Barnes	Texas
2009–10	Billy Donovan	Florida
2010–11	Tom Izzo	Michigan State
2011–12	Geno Auriemma	Connecticut (women)
2012–13	Bill Self	Kansas
2013–14	Tara VanDerveer	Stanford (women)
2014–15	Steve Fisher	San Diego State
2015–16	Tubby Smith	Texas Tech
2016–17	Muffet McGraw	Notre Dame (women)
2017–18	Jay Wright	Villanova
2018–19	Lon Kruger	Oklahoma
2019–20	C. Vivian Stringer	Rutgers (women)
2020–21	Dave Yanai	Cal State Dominguez Hills & Cal State Los Angeles
2021–22	Rick Byrd	Belmont
2022–23	Dawn Staley	South Carolina (women)
2023–24	John Calipari	Kentucky

See also

• List of U.S. men's college basketball national player of the year awards
• John R. Wooden Classic

External links

• Official website