Zach Edey, Drew Timme, Trayce Jackson-Davis Among 2023 Men's Wooden Award Finalists

Purdue, Indiana, Houston, Gonzaga and Kansas will be watching the Final Four from home, but at least they can take solace in having a finalist for the 2023 men's Wooden Award.

Per Jeff Borzello of ESPN, Purdue's Zach Edey, Indiana's Trayce Jackson-Davis, Houston's Marcus Sasser, Gonzaga's Drew Timme and Kansas' Jalen Wilson are the five finalists for this season's award that is given to the best player in the country.

The Wooden Award also released its 10-player All-American team, which included the five finalists as well as UCLA's Jaime Jaquez Jr., Alabama's Brandon Miller, Penn State's Jalen Pickett, Arizona's Azuolas Tubelis and Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe.

Tshiebwe won the award last season but was not a finalist this time around.

If Edey, who Borzello called the "perceived front-runner for most of the season," wins the award, he and Tshiebwe will have something in common. Kentucky was seen as a national title contender last season with the Wooden Award winner leading the way, but it was shocked in the first round of the NCAA tournament by 15th-seeded Saint Peter's.

Purdue was a presumed title contender this season with Edey spearheading the frontcourt, but it lost in stunning fashion to 16th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson.

While the loss ended his chance at a national championship, Edey was still brilliant this season. He averaged 22.3 points, 12.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 60.7 percent from the field.

It was more of the same in the tournament defeat, as he posted 21 points, 15 boards and three blocks on 7-of-11 shooting from the field.

Whether that season-long effort was enough to take home the coveted award remains to be seen, but he and everyone else will find out April 7 when the winner is announced.