Ohio State junior forward E.J. Liddell has been named to the Midseason Top 25 Wooden Award Watch List. The Wooden Award is given annually to the top men’s and women’s basketball player in the country.
This season, Liddell has averaged 18.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.9 blocks per game, all of which lead Ohio State, who sits with a 9-3 record and a 3-1 mark in the Big Ten.
The Big Ten leads all conferences with nine selections, followed by the Pac-12 with four, the Big 12 with three, the ACC, SEC and WCC with two selections each, and the Big East, Mountain West and Summit League each with one selection.
Fifteen players will be named to the National Ballot prior to the NCAA Tournament, and the Wooden Award All American Team will be announced the week of the Elite Eight. The winner of the Wooden Award will then be presented following the conclusion of the NCAA Tournament.
Ohio State has just one previous winner in small forward Evan Turner, who won the prestigious award in the 2009-10 season.
According to Vegas Insider, Liddell is tied for the second-best odds to win the award at +800, tied with Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis and behind Gonzaga’s Drew Timme.
The full list can be viewed below:
| Name | School | Conference | Height | Class | Position |
| Max Abmas | Oral Roberts | Summit League | 6-0 | Jr. | G |
| Ochai Agbaji | Kansas | Big 12 | 6-5 | Sr. | G |
| James Akinjo | Baylor | Big 12 | 6-1 | Sr. | G |
| Paolo Banchero | Duke | ACC | 6-10 | Fr. | F |
| Izaiah Brockington | Iowa State | Big 12 | 6-4 | Sr. | G |
| Kofi Cockburn* | Illinois | Big Ten | 7-0 | Jr. | C |
| Johnny Davis | Wisconsin | Big Ten | 6-5 | So. | G |
| Hunter Dickinson* | Michigan | Big Ten | 7-1 | So. | C |
| Zach Edey | Purdue | Big Ten | 7-4 | So. | C |
| Collin Gillespie | Villanova | Big East | 6-3 | Sr. | G |
| Chet Holmgren | Gonzaga | WCC | 7-0 | Fr. | C |
| Jaden Ivey | Purdue | Big Ten | 6-4 | So. | G |
| Trayce Jackson-Davis | Indiana | Big Ten | 6-9 | Jr. | F |
| Jaime Jaquez Jr. | UCLA | Pac-12 | 6-7 | Jr. | G/F |
| Johnny Juzang | UCLA | Pac-12 | 6-7 | Jr. | G |
| E.J. Liddell | Ohio State | Big Ten | 6-7 | Jr. | F |
| Bennedict Mathurin | Arizona | Pac-12 | 6-6 | So. | G |
| Isaiah Mobley | USC | Pac-12 | 6-10 | Jr. | F |
| Wendell Moore Jr. | Duke | ACC | 6-5 | Jr. | F |
| Keegan Murray | Iowa | Big Ten | 6-8 | So. | F |
| David Roddy | Colorado State | Mountain West | 6-6 | Jr. | F |
| Jabari Smith | Auburn | SEC | 6-10 | Fr. | F |
| Drew Timme* | Gonzaga | WCC | 6-10 | Jr. | F |
| Oscar Tshiebwe | Kentucky | SEC | 6-9 | Jr. | F |
| Trevion Williams | Purdue | Big Ten | 6-10 | Sr. | F |
