Kansas Jayhawks Basketball: Four Players Make The Wooden Award Watch List
By Joel Wagler
The expectations are high, as usual, for this Kansas Jayhawks basketball team this season. Four players have been named to the preseason Wooden Award watch list, adding to those high expectations. Junior forward Perry Ellis, sophomore guard Wayne Selden, Jr., freshman forward Cliff Alexander, and freshman forward Kelly Oubre all made the list.
The Wooden award is given, in theory, to the best college basketball player, much like the Heisman Trophy for college football. Being on the watch list simply means that you are really, really good, or the right people have been reading press clippings.
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The watch list will be fluid throughout the season, as players will play themselves on the list, while other will play themselves off. Or in the case of one of the listed Jayhawks, not play themselves off. Kelly Oubre only saw four minutes of action in Kansas’ first game of the season.
It is hard to see any of these players for Kansas emerge from the pack to become a finalist for the award. This Jayhawks squad looks very much like it will win or lose as a team, with no one superstar to glorify.
This looks like it will be a balanced, deep team, with any number of players capable of leading the Jayhawks on any given night. It is difficult to see any of the listed players stepping into the role of star on this team.
Ellis is the most experienced, and the most polished offensively, with good footwork, and skills around the basket. He can be a good scorer but he has been inconsistent in his first two seasons, and sometimes struggles defensively.
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Wayne Selden, Jr. hasn’t quite played up to his top prospect status yet, but he is a good defender, and plays with a toughness. He also hustles to make plays and Head Coach Bill Self will rely heavily on the second year player.
Kelly Oubre certainly looks to have the overall talent and athleticism to improve to where he plays more than four minutes. Sometimes it takes a little while for freshmen to catch on to Self’s system, especially on the defensive end. Oubre will get better and make a much bigger contribution as time goes on. If he doesn’t, it will hurt the Jayhawks in the long run. They need Oubre to be good.
The player who might have the best chance to emerge as a legitimate Wooden candidate is Cliff Alexander. The big fellow can score around the basket, and knows how to use his body. He looks to be an active defender and a relentless rebounder as well.
He still has a way to go, and he needs to avoid foul trouble, but the overall skill set is there for Alexander. Early last season, freshman Joel Embiid struggled but developed and improved as the season went along to become the number three overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. Alexander might follow a similar path.
When the Kansas Jayhawks basketball squad take the floor Tuesday night against the top ranked Kentucky Wildcats in the Champions Classic, eight players on the Wooden watch list will be present. The Wildcats join the Jayhawks as the only other team with four candidates.
Andrew Harrison and his twin brother Aaron Harrison both made the list, as did Willie Cauley-Stein and Karl-Anthony Towns. There will be a whole lot of firepower on the court on Tuesday.
Hopefully, the game will be as good as the hype, and Kansas can knock off Kentucky.