Kansas Jayhawks forward Jalen Wilson named Wooden Award finalist

Kansas forward Jalen Wilson is one of the five finalists for the 2023 John Wooden Award, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced Thursday on ESPN2. The award is presented to college basketball’s top player in a given year.

Other finalists for the award are Zach Edey (Purdue), Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana), Marcus Sasser (Houston) and Drew Timme (Gonzaga).

Wilson becomes the 26th Jayhawk to be named a Wooden Award finalist. Kansas has had back-to-back finalists, with Ochai Agbaji also being named a finalist in 2022.

The forward looks to become the third Kansas player to win the Wooden Award, joining Frank Mason III (2017) and Danny Manning (1988).

The 47th annual Wooden Award will be announced on Tuesday, April 4, on ESPN’s SportsCenter.

Earlier in March, Wilson earned consensus first-team All-American honors.

Wilson became KU’s 32nd consensus All-America first-team selection and gave Kansas back-to-back honorees after Agbaji earned the distinction in 2022.

This year’s Big 12 Player of the Year, Wilson led the conference with 20.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.