LOS ANGELES – Gonzaga's Chet Holmgren, Andrew Nembhard and Drew Timme were named to the John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy's Preseason Top 50 Watch List announced on ESPN Tuesday.
 
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.
 
Three 2021 Wooden Award All Americans headline the Preseason Top 50: Kofi Cockburn (Illinois), Hunter Dickinson (Michigan), and Timme. The top three schools in the AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll each have three selections on the Preseason Top 50: Gonzaga (Holmgren, Nembhard, and Timme), UCLA (Tyger Campbell, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Johnny Juzang), and Kansas (Ochai Agbaji, Remy Martin, and David McCormack).
 
Holmgren was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year, Naismith Prep Player of the Year, Morgan Wootten National Player of the Year, Sports Illustrated All-American Player of the Year, MaxPreps National Player of the Year, and a McDonald's All-American following his senior season at Minnehaha. The 7-footer averaged 21 points and 12.3 rebounds per game during his senior season while leading the Redhawks to the Class 3A state championship. He added 4.7 blocks and 4.5 assists while shooting 80 percent from the field in 2020-21. He finished his prep career with 1,567 points, 964 rebounds and 456 blocked shots.
 
A Bob Cousy Award candidate, Nembhard was named the West Coast Conference Sixth Man of the Year in 2021. He topped the league, and was sixth in the nation, with a 3.59 assist-to-turnover ratio. The senior averaged 9.2 points per game and was fourth in the conference averaging 4.4 assists per outing in 2020-21. Nembhard scored in double-digits 15 times last season. He started in 13 of the final 14 games.
 
Timme is a Preseason All-American First Team selection and the reigning Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year. He was named Second Team All-American by the Associated Press, NABC and USBWA in 2020-21. The Dallas, Texas, native, was also a First Team All-West Coast Conference selection, and the NCAA Tournament West Regional Most Outstanding Player. Timme was first in the conference in scoring at 19 points per game, at a league-leading 65.5 percent from the field, which was third in the country. His seven rebounds per game were also fourth in the conference. He started all 31 games for GU, scoring in double digits 30 times.
 
The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2022 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 2022 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Wendy's following the NCAA Tournament in April.
 
No. 1/1 Gonzaga opens the regular season against Dixie State Tuesday.
 
John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy's Preseason Top 50 Watch List

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
Keve Aluma	Virginia Tech	ACC	6-9	Sr.	F
Eric Ayala	Maryland	Big Ten	6-5	Sr.	G
Armando Bacot	North Carolina	ACC	6-10	Jr.	F/C
Patrick Baldwin Jr.	UW-Milwaukee	Horizon	6-9	Fr.	G
Paolo Banchero	Duke	ACC	6-10	Fr.	F
Emoni Bates	Memphis	American	6-9	Fr.	F
Buddy Boeheim	Syracuse	ACC	6-6	Sr.	G
Matt Bradley	San Diego State	Mountain West	6-4	Sr.	G
Tyger Campbell	UCLA	Pac-12	5-11	Jr.	G
Marcus Carr	Texas	Big 12	6-2	Sr.	G
Julian Champagnie	St. John's	Big East	6-8	Jr.	G/F
Kennedy Chandler	Tennessee	SEC	6-0	Fr.	G
Kofi Cockburn*	Illinois	Big Ten	7-0	Jr.	C
Andre Curbelo	Illinois	Big Ten	6-1	Soph	G
Kendric Davis	SMU	American	6-0	Sr.	G
Hunter Dickinson*	Michigan	Big Ten	7-1	Soph	C
Jalen Duren	Memphis	American	6-11	Fr.	C
Tyson Etienne	Wichita State	American	6-2	Soph	G
Adam Flagler	Baylor	Big 12	6-3	Jr.	G
Dawson Garcia	North Carolina	ACC	6-11	Soph	F
Collin Gillespie	Villanova	Big East	6-3	Sr.	G
Kellan Grady	Kentucky	SEC	6-5	Sr.	G
Ron Harper Jr.	Rutgers	Big Ten	6-6	Sr.	G/F
Chet Holmgren	Gonzaga	WCC	7-0	Fr.	C
Caleb Houstan	Michigan	Big Ten	6-8	Fr.	G/F
Jaden Ivey	Purdue	Big Ten	6-4	Soph	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
Kyle Lofton	St. Bonaventure	Atlantic 10	6-3	Sr.	G
Remy Martin	Kansas	Big 12	6-0	Sr.	G
Matthew Mayer	Baylor	Big 12	6-9	Sr.	G/F
David McCormack	Kansas	Big 12	6-10	Sr.	F
Isaiah Mobley	USC	Pac-12	6-10	Jr.	F
Iverson Molinar	Mississippi State	SEC	6-3	Jr.	G
Andrew Nembhard	Gonzaga	WCC	6-5	Sr.	G
Scotty Pippen Jr.	Vanderbilt	SEC	6-3	Jr.	G
Jahvon Quinerly	Alabama	SEC	6-1	Jr.	G
Will Richardson	Oregon	Pac-12	6-5	Sr.	G
Marcus Sasser	Houston	American	6-2	Jr.	G
Jaden Shackelford	Alabama	SEC	6-3	Jr.	G
Terrence Shannon Jr.	Texas Tech	Big 12	6-6	Jr.	G
Jabari Smith	Auburn	SEC	6-10	Fr.	F
Drew Timme*	Gonzaga	WCC	6-10	Jr.	F
TyTy Washington Jr.	Kentucky	SEC	6-3	Fr.	G
Trevion Williams	Purdue	Big Ten	6-10	Sr.	F
Mark Williams	Duke	ACC	7-0	Soph	C

*indicates player selected as a 2020-21 Wooden Award All American