Duke’s Flagg 4th Freshman to Win Wooden Award – Flagg joins rare air in a legendary program. Duke forward Cooper Flagg won the prestigious 2025 Wooden Award, which is given annually to the best college basketball player in the nation.
Flagg earned the honor over a quartet of other deserving finalists, including Auburn forward Johni Broome, Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr., Alabama guard Mark Sears and Purdue guard Braden Smith.
The 18-year-old joined Kevin Durant out of Texas, Zion Williamson from Duke and Anthony Davis from the University of Kentucky as the only freshmen to ever take home the award.
Williamson was the last freshman to win the Wooden Award back in 2019.
The men’s John R. Wooden Award has been given out every year since 1977, starting with UCLA star Marques Johnson. Purdue’s Zach Edey won it in each of the past two years, becoming only the second men’s player to capture the award twice, joining Ralph Sampson from the University of Virginia, who won it in 1982 and 1983.
Flagg came into his first season at Duke with unbelievable expectations, as he was listed as the No. 1 prospect in the country as part of the 2024 recruiting class according to 247Sports’ composite rankings.
His freshman year in Durham, North Carolina with the Blue Devils has been spectacular, averaging 18.9 points and 7.5 rebounds to go along with 4.2 assists per game. Flagg has shown amazing ability as a three-level scorer, shooting 48.3 percent from the field and knocking down 37.4 percent of his three-point attempts.
He has also made his presence known on the defensive end, recording 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocks per game.
Flagg previously earned ACC Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors, helping lead Duke to a 35-3 record as well as an appearance in the Final Four of the 2025 NCAA tournament.
He has been the leader on the floor throughout the Blue Devils’ March Madness run, averaging 19.5 points and 7.8 rebounds while shooting 42.9 percent from downtown in four tournament games.
All of this came after an ankle injury that caused him to miss some time during the ACC Tournament.
Flagg should not have to wait very long at all in the Green Room to hear his name called by Commissioner Adam Silver in the 2025 NBA draft, as he was projected to be selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the latest mock draft from Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman.
For now, Flagg will pour all of his attention into attempting to take down the Houston Cougars in the Final Four on Saturday after winning the Wooden Award.
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USC’s Watkins Adds to Honors with Wooden Award – Watkins is cleaning up in the awards department. It was the worse kept secret in women’s college basketball. USC sophomore JuJu Watkins won the 2024-25 John R. Wooden Award on Saturday as the most outstanding player in women’s college basketball.
Watkins beat out four other great players who in any other year could have won. The other finalists were UConn’s Paige Bueckers, UCLA’s Lauren Betts, Texas’ Madison Booker and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe 19-year-old guard from California swept the Player of the Year honors by taking home the Wooden Award, as she previously won the Naismith College Player of the Year and Associated Press Player of the Year as well.
Watkins garnered 332 points in the Wooden Award voting, beating out Bueckers’ 286, Betts’ 257, Hidalgo’s 239 and Booker’s 129.
In 33 games this season, Watkins filled up the stat sheet averaging 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.8 blocks per game, while shooting 42.6 percent from the field and 32.5 percent from beyond the arc.
She was the fourth-leading scorer in women’s college basketball this season, and tops among the Wooden Award finalists.
Prior to the start of the NCAA tournament, Watkins led the Trojans to a 28-3 record, securing them a No. 1 seed in the tourney.
However, a sports tragedy struck when Watkins suffered a season-ending torn ACL in the second round of the tournament against the Georgia Bulldogs. USC advanced to the Elite Eight without her before falling to UConn.
Since the Wooden Award was first given to women’s players more than two decades ago in 2004, Watkins is the first USC player to win it. She is also only the third underclassman to take the award, joining recently named Hall of Famer Maya Moore and Bueckers, both from UConn.
Watkins will officially be granted her award when the John R. Wooden Awards Show streams on ESPN+ on Friday, April 11 at 8 p.m. ET.
