Lonzo Ball, Markelle Fultz Highlight 2017 Wooden Award Finalists

The list of 15 finalists for the 2017 Wooden Award has been revealed, with UCLA's Lonzo Ball and Washington's Markelle Fultz making the cut. 

Here's the full list of candidates for college basketball's most outstanding men's player, which will be announced in April, per ESPN.com:

Player	Team
Lonzo Ball	UCLA
Markelle Fultz	Washington
Dillon Brooks	Oregon
Bonzie Colson	Notre Dame
Ethan Happ	Wisconsin
Josh Hart	Villanova
Josh Jackson	Kansas
Justin Jackson	North Carolina
Luke Kennard	Duke
Lauri Markkanen	Arizona
Frank Mason III	Kansas
Malik Monk	Kentucky
Johnathan Motley	Baylor
Caleb Swanigan	Purdue
Nigel Williams-Goss	Gonzaga

Ball and Fultz headline the list by virtue of being, in all likelihood, the top two prospects in this year's NBA draft. 

Ball has led UCLA to a 27-3 record entering Saturday. He's averaging 15.0 points, 7.6 assists, 6.3 rebounds per game and shooting 55.7 percent from the field. 

Fultz hasn't received as much attention as Ball because Washington is just 9-20, though that's hardly the freshman sensation's fault. He leads the Huskies in scoring (23.2) and assists (5.9), ranks second in rebounds (5.7) and shoots 41.3 percent from three-point range. 

B/R NBA draft analyst Jonathan Wasserman has Fultz going No. 1 overall in his most recent mock draft.

The Pac-12 owns the most finalists, with Oregon's Dillon Brooks and Arizona's Lauri Markkanen alongside Ball and Fultz. 

Purdue's Caleb Swanigan could be the one to play spoiler in this year's race. The sophomore is averaging a double-double with 18.6 points and 12.5 rebounds for the Boilermakers, and he is tied for the NCAA lead with 24 double-doubles in 30 games. 

The depth of this year's Wooden Award finalists makes it impossible to predict a winner at this point. Ball has the marquee value, but with the intensity of each game picking up as tournament season begins, someone will eventually separate himself from the pack.