Ty-Shon Alexander Named to 2019-20 Preseason Top 50 Watch list for John R. Wooden Award
11/5/2019 11:51:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Junior guard looking to become CU's second Wooden Award winner in the last seven seasons
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (November 5, 2020) – Creighton University junior Ty-Shon Alexander has been named to the Preseason Top 50 Watch List for the John R. Wooden Award® presented by Wendy's®. The list was unveiled today on ESPN's SportsCenter and on ESPN.com.
Chosen by a preseason poll of national college basketball experts, the list is comprised of 50 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for the most prestigious honors in college basketball, the Wooden Award All American Team™ and Most Outstanding Player Award.
Alexander led Creighton with 15.7 points per game, 41 steals and 97 three-pointers en route to Honorable Mention All-BIG EAST status a year ago. In addition to posting the league's biggest scoring improvement (+10.2 ppg.), the Charlotte, N.C., native ranked fourth in the league in three-pointers per game, 10th in scoring, 11th in free throw percentage and 12th in steals per game.
Alexander was named Preseason First Team All-BIG EAST pick last month by league coaches, and a Preseason Second Team All-American by Street & Smith's. He is also one of 20 preseason candidates for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award.
Several universities boast multiple players on the list: Florida (Kerry Blackshear Jr., Scottie Lewis, and Andwew Nembhard) leads all schools with three selections, while Davidson (Kellan Grady and Jon Axel Gudmundsson), Duke (Vernon Carey Jr. and Tre Jones), Kansas (Udoka Azubuike and Devon Dotson), Kentucky (Ashton Hagans and Tyrese Maxey), Maryland (Anthony Cowan Jr. and Jalen Smith), Memphis (Precious Achiuwa and James Wiseman), Utah State (Sam Merrill and Neemias Queta), and Washington (Jaden McDaniels and Isaiah Stewart) each have two selections on the Preseason Top 50.
Of the 50 players on the preseason list, 34 are upperclassmen, including 22 seniors. The recent trend of recognizing outstanding freshmen continues with 10 named to the list: Memphis' Achiuwa and Wiseman, North Carolina's Cole Anthony, Duke's Carey Jr, Georgia's Anthony Edwards, Florida's Lewis, Arizona's Nico Mannion, Kentucky's Maxey, and Washington's McDaniels and Stewart.
The Preseason Top 50 list represents 12 conferences. The Pac-12 leads all conferences with 8 selections, followed by the BIG EAST and SEC with seven apiece, the Big Ten with six, the ACC with five, the Big 12 with four, the American and WCC with three apiece, the A-10 and Mountain West with two each, and the America East, Conference USA, and Horizon League with one selection apiece.
The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2020 John R. Wooden Award Men's Player of the Year presented by Wendy's. Players not chosen to the preseason list are still eligible for the Wooden Award™ midseason list, late season list, and the National Ballot. The National Ballot consists of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the Wooden Award. Nearly 1,000 voters will rank in order 10 of those 15 players when voting opens prior to the NCAA Tournament and will allow voters to take into consideration performance during early round games. The Wooden Award All American Team™ will be announced the week of the "Elite Eight" round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the 2020 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Wendy's during the ESPN College Basketball Awards on Friday, April 10, 2020.
Creighton's lone recipient of the John R. Wooden Award® is Doug McDermott, who was recognized following the completion of the 2013-14 campaign.
About the John R. Wooden Award
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation's best basketball player at an NCAA Division I university who has proven to his or her university that he or she meets or exceeds the qualifications of the John R. Wooden Award as set forth by Coach Wooden and the Wooden Award Steering Committee, including making progress towards graduation and maintaining at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA. Previous winners include Larry Bird ('79), Michael Jordan ('84), Tim Duncan ('97), Kevin Durant ('07), Doug McDermott ('14), Jalen Brunson ('18), Candace Parker ('07 & '08), Maya Moore ('09 & '11), Chiney Ogwumike ('14), and last year's recipients, Sabrina Ionescu of Oregon and Zion Williamson of Duke.
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed nearly one million dollars to the universities' general scholarship fund in the names of the Wooden Award All American recipients and has sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with the Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament brings together Special Olympics athletes and Wooden Award All Americans and coaches in attendance. It is hosted at the Los Angeles Athletic Club during the John R. Wooden Award Weekend.
For up-to-date information on the Wooden Award, please go to www.woodenaward.com and follow the Wooden Award on Facebook at www.facebook.com/woodenaward and @WoodenAward on Twitter and Instagram.
| Name | School | Conference | Height | Class | Position |
| Precious Achiuwa | Memphis | American | 6-9 | Fr. | F |
| Ty-Shon Alexander | Creighton | Big East | 6-4 | Jr. | G |
| Cole Anthony | North Carolina | ACC | 6-3 | Fr. | G |
| Udoka Azubuike | Kansas | Big 12 | 7-0 | Sr. | C |
| Kamar Baldwin | Butler | Big East | 6-1 | Sr. | G |
| Desmond Bane | TCU | Big 12 | 6-6 | Sr. | G |
| Charles Bassey | Western Kentucky | Conference USA | 6-11 | So. | C |
| Saddiq Bey | Villanova | Big East | 6-8 | So. | F |
| Kerry Blackshear Jr. | Florida | SEC | 6-10 | Sr. | F |
| Vernon Carey Jr. | Duke | ACC | 6-10 | Fr. | C |
| Yoeli Childs | BYU | WCC | 6-8 | Sr. | F |
| Anthony Cowan Jr. | Maryland | Big Ten | 6-0 | Sr. | G |
| Jarron Cumberland | Cincinnati | American | 6-5 | Sr. | G |
| Antoine Davis | Detroit Mercy | Horizon League | 6-1 | So. | G |
| Mamadi Diakite | Virginia | ACC | 6-9 | Sr. | F |
| Alpha Diallo | Providence | Big East | 6-7 | Sr. | G |
| Ayo Dosunmu | Illinois | Big Ten | 6-5 | So. | G |
| Devon Dotson | Kansas | Big 12 | 6-2 | So. | G |
| Anthony Edwards | Georgia | SEC | 6-5 | Fr. | G |
| CJ Elleby | Washington State | Pac-12 | 6-6 | So. | F |
| Jordan Ford | Saint Mary's | WCC | 6-1 | Sr. | G |
| Kellan Grady | Davidson | A-10 | 6-5 | Jr. | G |
| Jon Axel Gudmundsson | Davidson | A-10 | 6-5 | Sr. | G |
| Ashton Hagans | Kentucky | SEC | 6-3 | So. | G |
| Tyrese Haliburton | Iowa State | Big 12 | 6-5 | So. | G |
| Markus Howard* | Marquette | Big East | 5-11 | Sr. | G |
| Tre Jones | Duke | ACC | 6-3 | So. | G |
| Anthony Lamb | Vermont | America East | 6-6 | Sr. | F |
| Scottie Lewis | Florida | SEC | 6-5 | Fr. | G |
| Nico Mannion | Arizona | Pac-12 | 6-6 | Fr. | G |
| Naji Marshall | Xavier | Big East | 6-7 | Jr. | F |
| Tyrese Maxey | Kentucky | SEC | 6-3 | Fr. | G |
| Jaden McDaniels | Washington | Pac-12 | 6-9 | Fr. | F |
| Sam Merrill | Utah State | Mountain West | 6-5 | Sr. | G |
| Andrew Nembhard | Florida | SEC | 6-5 | So. | G |
| Jordan Nwora | Louisville | ACC | 6-7 | Jr. | F |
| Reggie Perry | Mississippi State | SEC | 6-5 | Sr. | G |
| Myles Powell | Seton Hall | Big East | 6-2 | Sr. | G |
| Payton Pritchard | Oregon | Pac-12 | 6-2 | Sr. | G |
| Neemias Queta | Utah State | Mountain West | 7-0 | So. | C |
| Nick Rakocevic | USC | Pac-12 | 6-11 | Sr. | F |
| Jalen Smith | Maryland | Big Ten | 6-10 | So. | F |
| Lamar Stevens | Penn State | Big Ten | 6-8 | Sr. | F |
| Isaiah Stewart | Washington | Pac-12 | 6-9 | Fr. | F |
| Killian Tillie | Gonzaga | WCC | 6-10 | Sr. | F |
| Tres Tinkle | Oregon State | Pac-12 | 6-7 | Sr. | F |
| Kaleb Wesson | Ohio State | Big Ten | 6-9 | Jr. | F |
| Cassius Winston* | Michigan State | Big Ten | 6-1 | Sr. | G |
| James Wiseman | Memphis | American | 7-1 | Fr. | C |
| McKinley Wright IV | Colorado | Pac-12 | 6-0 | Jr. | G |
*indicates player was selected to the 2018-19 Wooden Award All America Team
