Wooden Award Top 50 watchlist includes five players from state of Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Basketball State was well-represented on the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 Watchlist that was released Tuesday.

Four Indiana natives plus one current IU Hoosier found themselves on the list for the award that recognized as the most prestigious honor in college basketball.

Starting with the Hoosiers, redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries earned a spot on the list as he currently has the most points of any active player in the NCAA. He was named the Big Ten’s Co-Player of the Week after averaging 22.5 points and 8 rebounds in the first week of action.

Two Purdue Boilermakers join DeVries. Senior guard Braden Smith and senior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn are among the top 50. The former Indiana Mr. Basketball was a finalist for the award last year. This year, he’s averaging 17.8 points and 8.5 assists after four games.

After missing the first two games with a hip injury, Kaufman-Renn made his regular season debut for the Boilers in last week’s win at No. 8 Alabama. Since then, the Sellersburg native recorded back-to-back double-doubles, each with 15 boards a piece. He also leads the country’s top team with 18 points a game.

In the north part of the state, former Penn star and current Notre Dame junior Markus Burton was also included in the list. Burton’s scored at least 13 points in each of the four games this season, eclipsing 20 in two contests. Burton leads the Fighting Irish averaging 18 points.

Indianapolis native and former Indiana All-Star Ryan Conwell is also among the top 50. Conwell was a standout guard at Pike during high school and currently plays for the Louisville Cardinals. Conwell’s named to the list after two straight 20-point games, including putting up 24 against No. 9 Kentucky last week.

The 50 players on the watchlist are considered strong candidates, but every college basketball player is still eligible to win the award.

JOHN R. WOODEN AWARD® 2025-26 MEN’S TOP 50 WATCHLIST

Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas

Nate Ament, Tennessee

Christian Anderson, Texas Tech

Robbie Avila, Saint Louis

Solo Ball, UConn

Nate Bittle, Oregon

John Blackwell, Wisconsin

MIkel Brown Jr., Louisville

Cameron Boozer, Duke

Markus Burton, Notre Dame

Alex Condon, Florida

Ryan Conwell, Louisville

Donovan Dent, UCLA

Tucker DeVries, Indiana

AJ Dybansta, BYU

Zuby Ejiofor, St. John’s

Boogie Fland, Florida

Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Tennessee

PJ Haggerty, Kansas State

Thomas Haugh, Florida

Bryce Hopkins, St. John’s

Josh Hubbard, Mississippi State

Graham Ike, Gonzaga

Ian Jackson, St. John’s

Trey Kaufman-Renn, Purdue

Alex Karaban, UConn

Xaivian Lee, Florida

Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan

Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State

Jaland Lowe, Kentucky

Nick Martinelli, Northwestern

Otega Oweh, Kentucky

Koa Peat, Arizona

Darryn Peterson, Kansas

Tahaad Pettiford, Auburn

Labaron Philon Jr., Alabama

Jayden Quaintance, Kentucky

Richie Saunders, BYU

Emanuel Sharp, Houston

Jackson Shelstad, Oregon

Braden Smith, Purdue

Bennet Stirtz, Iowa

Andrej Stojakovic, Illinois

Bruce Thornton, Ohio state

JT Toppin, Texas Tech

Joseph Tugler, Houston

Milos Uzan, Houston

D.J. Wagner, Arkansas

Darrion Williams, NC State

Caleb Wilson, North Carolina

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