UConn’s Paige Bueckers, UCLA’s Lauren Betts, and Texas’ Madison Booker lead the list of five finalists for the Wooden Award, which honors the top player in women’s college basketball.
Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo and USC’s JuJu Watkins complete the group of finalists, announced Tuesday on ESPN. The winner will be revealed later in April.
All five players were also named to the Wooden All-American team, alongside Kentucky’s Georgia Amoore, Florida State’s Ta’Niya Latson, Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles, LSU’s Aneesah Morrow, and TCU’s Hailey Van Lith.
Bueckers, who won the Wooden Award in 2021 as a freshman, is aiming for her first national championship as UConn makes its 16th Final Four appearance in the past 17 seasons. She has confirmed her intention to declare for the WNBA Draft after the season, where she is projected as the No. 1 overall pick.
Betts and UCLA have reached their first-ever Final Four and will face UConn on Friday (ESPN, 9 p.m. ET). Meanwhile, Booker and Texas are making their first Final Four appearance since 2003 and will go up against South Carolina on Friday (ESPN, 7 p.m. ET).
Watkins, a leading candidate for player of the year, suffered a season-ending ACL tear in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Despite her absence, USC advanced to the Elite Eight before falling to Bueckers and the Huskies.
Additionally, two Wooden All-Americans, Ta’Niya Latson and Olivia Miles, have entered the transfer portal. Miles’ decision was particularly unexpected, as she was projected to be the No. 2 pick in this year’s WNBA Draft but has instead chosen to transfer to a new program.
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