HomeBlogAppleCameron Boozer, AJ Dybantsa headline top 15 on Wooden Award ballot

Cameron Boozer, AJ Dybantsa headline top 15 on Wooden Award ballot

by 3Point Auto

Mar 7, 2026

Apple

Six freshmen — headlined by Duke star Cameron Boozer — are among the 15 players named to the men’s Wooden Award national ballot, which was revealed Saturday on ESPN’s “College GameDay.”

Boozer, one of the most decorated high school players of the modern era, has carried his winning ways to the college level and enters the final weekend of the regular season as the perceived favorite for the award. From an analytical perspective, he has put together one of the best seasons of this century and is the leader of the nation’s No. 1 team.

The 6-foot-9 forward from Miami is averaging 22.6 points, 10.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists while shooting 58.3% from the field and 40.4% from 3-point range. He ranks first in ESPN Analytics’ MVP leaderboard, while also leading the nation in Player Efficiency Rating.

Boozer has been the most consistent player since the season began, never scoring fewer than 14 points in a game or grabbing fewer than five rebounds. He has 16 double-doubles, including nine games of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.

If Boozer goes wins the award, he would be the fifth freshman to take home the hardware; Kevin Durant (2007), Anthony Davis (2012), Zion Williamson (2019) and Cooper Flagg (2025) are the only others to do it.

Other first-year players on the ballot include BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr., Houston’s Kingston Flemings and Illinois’ Keaton Wagler.

Dybantsa leads the nation in scoring at 24.8 points per game, scoring at least 20 points in each of his past nine games. The 6-foot-9 wing had 43 points against Utah, 36 points against Baylor and averaged 27.8 points on 66% shooting in December.

Acuff was the best guard in the country in February, averaging 27.3 points, 6.1 assists and 3.6 rebounds. He ranks ninth in the country in scoring (22.2 PPG) and 17th in assists (6.4). He’s on track to become the first player since Pete Maravich in 1969-70 to lead the SEC in points and assists.

The last freshman candidate is one of two injured players on the ballot: North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson. Wilson was nearly as productive as Boozer for much of the season, scoring 20 or more points in 17 of his first 23 games, ranking in the top 30 nationally in scoring and rebounding. He suffered a left hand fracture Feb. 10 then sustained a broken right thumb days after getting cleared for individual workouts from the initial injury.

Texas Tech’s JT Toppin is the other injured star to make the cut. Toppin ranked in the top 10 nationally in scoring (21.8) and rebounding (10.8), but suffered a torn ACL in a Feb. 17 loss to Arizona State.

All 15 players on the national ballot were included on the late midseason top 20 list announced in mid-February.

The men’s Wooden Award has been given out every year since 1977, starting with UCLA’s Marques Johnson.