The Wooden Award announced its top five finalists for the men's and women's basketball awards on Tuesday. Here's who made the top five for each.

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.

Dukes next wave of blue chip recruits is awed by cooper Flagg but they are already planning for life after him

Through his freshman season at Duke, Cooper Flagg cemented his status as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. He leads the Blue Devils in every major statistical category and helped fuel their run to the Final Four this week in San Antonio.

There are no real edges for any of these teams as the matchups fit their playing styles. Duke and Houston have the two best defenses in the country and play slower, so fitting they meet, while Auburn and Florida both play at quicker tempos and rank as the second and third-best offenses behind Duke.

As Duke keeps dancing, their run with the Maine Event is nearly over—just one game away from the championship game. The post Christian Laettner Wishes to Stop Cooper Flagg’s $400M Cheque as He Names Current NBA Star as His Favorite Duke Wildcat appeared first on EssentiallySports.

The No. 1-seeded Duke Blue Devils are slight favorites (plus-220) over their fellow No. 1-seeded Florida Gators (plus-275), according to ESPN Bet, to win the 2025 national championship. And though Duke (35-3) still has to get past No.

Bill Simmons explored who is the better NBA Draft option between Duke basketball forwards Cooper Flagg and Zion Williamson.