College Basketball

Luke Kennard Joins Wooden Award Midseason Watch List

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:11 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Chris Brown/FanSided via Ball Durham

Sophomore guard Luke Kennard was recently added as a new selection to the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 watch list.

Duke Basketball dominated the preseason Wooden Award watch list with three players projected as possible players of the year. However, after all the injuries and news surrounding the Duke program, Blue Devils Grayson Allen, Harry Giles, and Jayson Tatum were dropped from the list while Luke Kennard was added as a new selection.

With all of the high expectations for Grayson Allen and the top-ranked incoming freshmen class, Luke Kennard has been Duke’s best player so far this season. Kennard is one of only two players who has appeared in all 17 games for Duke, along with senior guard Matt Jones. The 6-6 shooting guard leads the team in scoring with 20.4 points per game. Additionally, he’s playing very efficiently shooting 53.2% from the field, 44.7% from three, and 86.3% from the free throw line and has a 1.6 assist/turnover ratio.

CBS Sports named the sophomore as an unexpected national player of the year candidate earlier this season. He’s been one of the most improved players in the country so far this season after struggling at points last year as a freshman, which has increased his usage for the team. Lately, Jayson Tatum has been making a strong case to rejoin the award list averaging 17.4 points and 6.8 rebounds after missing the first eight games of the season.

Strong performances by Luke Kennard during ACC play will keep him in the running for player of the year award. The Wooden Award committee will trim the list down to 20 players in February before announcing the finalists in March. The award winner will be announced at the end of the season in April.

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