Cooper Flagg, Johni Broome headline Wooden Award top 15 - ESPN

Duke freshman Cooper Flagg and Auburn star Johni Broome headlined the 15 players named to the Wooden Award top 15 national ballot Saturday morning, as revealed on ESPN's «College GameDay.»

Flagg, the former No. 1 recruit and the projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft, enters the final weekend of the regular season as the perceived front-runner for the award. He has put together one of the best freshman seasons of all time while leading Duke to a likely No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. After producing standout performances early in the season against Kentucky, Arizona and Auburn, Flagg has been even better in ACC play. Heading into the regular-season finale against North Carolina, he ranks second in the ACC in scoring (21.5 PPG), 10th in rebounding (7.0 RPG) and seventh in assists (4.3 APG) in conference play.

In seven games in January, Flagg averaged 25.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists, shooting 57.9% from the field and 42.9% from 3-point range. He set an ACC freshman record with 42 points against Notre Dame in January and has scored at least 20 points on 13 occasions, also ranking in the top three nationally in multiple defensive efficiency metrics.

If Flagg were to win, he would be just the fourth freshman ever to claim the award, following Kevin Durant (2007), Anthony Davis (2012) and Zion Williamson (2019).

Broome looked like the clear favorite for the Wooden Award after two months of the season, averaging 18.7 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.7 blocks through 15 games for top-ranked Auburn. He consistently produced massive performances in the Tigers' biggest nonconference games, putting up 20 points and 9 rebounds against Houston, 21 points and 10 rebounds against Iowa State, 20 points and 12