Baylor basketball forward Johnathan Motley has been named to the John R. Wooden Award Late Season Top 20. The list was announced by the Los Angeles Athletic Club on Wednesday evening.
Motley is one of three Big 12 Conference players remaining on the list, joining Kansas’ Josh Jackson and Frank Mason III. The list was chosen by a poll of national college basketball experts, and the players remaining are considered front-runners for the sport’s most prestigious honor.
The list will be trimmed to 15 top players for the Final Ballot, which will be announced in early March. The 41st annual presentation of the Wooden Award to the nation’s most outstanding basketball player will be the anchor presentation of the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show presented by Wendy’s on ESPN2 on April 7. The Wooden Award All-American Teams will be honored during the ceremony.
Motley, a fourth-year junior from Houston, has led the Bears to a 21-3 overall record, including 8-3 in Big 12 play. Both of those marks tie the 2011-12 season for the best records at those points in the season in program history.
The 6-foot-10 forward leads the team with 16.6 points, and he leads the Big 12 Conference with 9.8 rebounds per game. He has a Big 12-best 10 double-doubles on the season, including a 24-point, 11-rebound effort in Wednesday’s win at Oklahoma State. He has started 23 consecutive games and averages 29.7 minutes per contest.
Motley has posted even better numbers in Big 12 play, averaging 17.2 points and 11.0 rebounds in 30.5 minutes per game. He also has a team-high 16 blocks in Big 12 play and ranks fourth on the squad with 22 assists.
Motley eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in Wednesday’s game, becoming the 31st player in program history and the 13th of the Drew era to score at least 1,000 career points. He also has 543 career rebounds, 110 career blocks and 101 career assists, leaving him 57 rebounds shy of becoming Baylor’s first-ever player with 1,000 points, 600 rebounds, 100 blocks and 100 assists.
No. 6 Baylor returns home to host TCU at 1 p.m. CT Saturday on ESPNU.
John R. Wooden Award Late Season Top 20
Dwayne Bacon, Florida State
Lonzo Ball, UCLA
Joel Berry II, North Carolina
Dillon Brooks, Oregon
Bonzie Colson, Notre Dame
De'Aaron Fox, Kentucky
Markelle Fultz, Washington
Ethan Happ, Wisconsin
Josh Hart, Villanova
Josh Jackson, Kansas
Justin Jackson, North Carolina
Marcus Keene, Central Michigan
Luke Kennard, Duke
Lauri Markkanen, Arizona
Frank Mason III, Kansas
Malik Monk, Kentucky
Johnathan Motley, Baylor
Caleb Swanigan, Purdue
Melo Trimble, Maryland
Nigel Williams-Goss, Gonzaga
