Cooper Flagg, Johni Broome Headline 2025 Wooden Award Finalists as Men's CBB POY

The five finalists for one of the highest honors in college basketball were revealed on Tuesday.

Per ESPN's Jeff Borzello, Duke's Cooper Flagg and Auburn's Johni Broome headline the list of finalists for the Wooden Award, given to the top player in college basketball every year.

Also making the list of finalists were Florida's Walter Clayton Jr., Alabama's Mark Sears and Purdue's Braden Smith.

Flagg, one of the most anticipated players in the Class of 2024, has lived up to the lofty expectations he had coming into his freshman year. He put up 18.2 points, 7.5 boards and 4.2 assists and has the Blue Devils just one game away from reaching the national championship.

Should Flagg forgo his remaining collegiate eligibility and declare for the NBA draft, he'll almost certainly be the first pick.

Broome has had a much different career trajectory than Flagg, starting his career at Morehead State before emerging as one of the best players in the nation at Auburn over the last three years.

The senior put up 18.7 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game this year, leading the Tigers to the Final Four, where they'll take on Florida this weekend.

Clayton, who spent two years at Iona before joining the Gators before the 2023-24 season, has continued his rise to stardom and put up career numbers this year. He's averaging 18.1 points per game on one of the best teams in the nation. Clayton will face Broome and Auburn on Saturday.

Sears, also a transfer who started his career at Ohio, has emerged as one of the craftiest guards in college basketball over the past few years and has established himself as an elite scorer. His scoring numbers weren't quite as good as last year, but he averaged 18.6 points and 5.1 assists while leading the Tide to an Elite Eight appearance.

Smith, a staple of Purdue's roster over the past three years, averaged 15.8 points and 8.7 assists per game this year, also picking up 2.2 steals per contest. Should Smith win, it would mark three consecutive seasons in which a Purdue player earned the prestigious award. Zach Edey won it the last two seasons.