LOS ANGELES – WKU Hilltopper Basketball's junior center Charles Bassey was named to the John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy's Preseason Top 50 Watch List.
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.
Bassey serves as the lone representative from Conference USA and is one of 14 student-athletes from non-Power Five conferences. The full watch list can be found here.
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is given to the nation's best Division I basketball player 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) and Kevin Durant ('07).
The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2021 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 following the NCAA Tournament in April.
The honor comes alongside several preseason awards and watch lists for the center including the Naismith Trophy Player of the year Watch List, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Watch List and Lindy's Spots Magazine Preseason Second-Team All-American honors.
Through the Hilltoppers' first three games of the season, the Nigeria native is averaging 15.7 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.7 blocks in 25.3 minutes of action. He is shooting 54.1% from the field and has netted two 3-pointers. Bassey was named Conference USA's Player of the Week after his performance against Northern Iowa, Memphis and #15 West Virginia in the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic.
WKU is set to play at Louisville on Tuesday evening. The game will tip at 5 p.m. CT and be broadcast on ACC Network.
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