Hunter officially one of 15 Wooden Award finalists, six from the B1G
The ballot came out today for the Wooden Award, one of 4-5 "Player of the Year" awards. They're all pretty much a lock to Garza, who came in 2nd last year.
Six from the Big Ten, 3 from the Zags (!), 2 from both ILL and Villanova though unfortunately Gillespie just got injured for the year. Trey is Michigan's lone winner of the award.
Anyway, great company to keep, congrats to Hunter!
Charles Bassey, Western Kentucky
Jared Butler, Baylor
Kofi Cockburn, Illinois
Cade Cunningham, Oklahoma State
Hunter Dickinson, Michigan
Ayo Dosunmu, Illinois
Luka Garza*, Iowa
Collin Gillespie, Villanova
Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana
Corey Kispert, Gonzaga
E.J. Liddell, Ohio State
Evan Mobley, USC
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Villanova
Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga
Drew Timme, Gonzaga
What is the asterisk for? Unanimous selection?
Eyebrows
it says * indicates player selected as 2020 Wooden Award All American
I’d take Cockburn over Garza. He’s as good on defense as Garza is on offense, and Cockburn gives you something on offense. Garza has lead feet on defense.
I agree. Dickinson also destroyed Garza while Cockburn somewhat got the best of that matchup. Cockburn does more to help his team win than Garza and does. I know I would rather have Cockburn on my team than Garza.
He didn't destroy Garza. He outplayed Garza and proved Garza isn't invincible.
Cockburn had 12 against Michigan. Illinois Destroyed Michigan.
I've been saying all year Dickinson is moving from great freshman to a little overrated (like Garza) with all of the hype. IMO Livers is still the most important player on the team, Wagner has played the best in the 2nd half of the season.
Dickinson is going to have to trust his right hand and get more athletic in terms of his vertical (he moves his feet really well, but he can't jump).
Most teams just don't have the size to deal with him. OSU was too short. Garza is too slow. Illinois had two guys who could guard him and stay on his right shoulder/left hand and neutralize him.
I wish we'd just like Dickinson be a dominant freshman and key piece rather than putting him in the national POY discussion.
Let him have an off-season and then going into next year, absolutely should be preseason all-everything. I'd imagine he'll come back with either a right hand or extended range...or both, and if he has a counter, he'll be damn near unstoppable.
Hey, I've loved Hunter's play all year but it seemed like he had butterfingers in the last Big-10 Championship game. Several times he was fed in the post but the ball ended up out of bounds. He may need to work on hand strength in the off season. Let's roll on State tomorrow !
He isn’t talked about enough, but if I had a vote, I would vote for Jared Butler.
Yeah, he's weirdly underrated despite being the best player on one of the top 2-3 teams in the country.
He’s playing basketball now? I guess his acting career has kind dried up. Still, I never thought I’d see a 50yo Scottish dude playing elite D1 basketball!
I think Kispert is a great shooter but I'm sort of surprised to see him on this list and not someone who's a bit more well-rounded in terms of shot creation and defense. I'm not saying Wagner or Livers should take his place, but I don't feel like he'd be nearly as effective outside of the WCC or on another team. By comparison, the fact that Trayce Jackson-Davis is as good as he is despite being saddled on an awful IU team is a testament to his overall skills.
Franz is PISSED.
I don't think I would say Hunter Dickenson is the best player in the country, but definitely the most surprising on the list. Unfortunately, there are some really good freshman on that list too that will probably prevent a Tisdale award win.
But #1 in our hearts!