On Monday, Wisconsin learned that their dynamic duo of Jon Leuer and Jordan Taylor are among the top 20 candidates on the national ballot for the John R. Wooden Award.
The Wooden Award is given out to the nation’s best player and is considered the most prestigious individual honor in all of college basketball.
Wisconsin joins Duke (Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith) and Purdue (JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore) as one of only three schools with two players on the national ballot.
Leuer and Taylor are racking up the accolades as they were also the first UW duo in school history to be members of a first-team All-Big Ten team.
The duo joins former Badgers Devin Harris (2005) and Alando Tucker (2007) as recent players to be Wooden Award finalists.
Taylor is second on the team in scoring at 18.1 points per game and leads the nation with a sparkling 4.24 assist-to-turnover ratio. He also is the only player in the Big Ten to rank among the top five in both scoring and assists.
The senior forward Leuer leads the Badgers in both scoring and rebounding at 18.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Both of those averages also rank among the top five in the conference.
The week of the “Elite Eight,” in the NCAA Tournament is when the Wooden Award Men’s All-American Team will be announced. Voters have until Monday, March 28th to return their ballots for the award.
The 35th annual Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the announcement of the men’s and women’s Wooden Award winners and the presentation of the Wooden Award All-American Team trophies will take place April 8 at The Los Angeles Athletic Club.
The Big Ten boasts the largest number of players chosen to the list with five, while the Big East and Big 12 conferences placed four players each.
Leuer and Taylor will continue their campaign for college basketball’s most prestigious award when they meet #13-seed Belmont in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament.
Would you put Leuer or Taylor on your John Wooden All-American Team? Let me know by commenting below!
Nick Grays is a senior editor at the Sports Bank where he covers the Wisconsin Badgers, Green Bay Packers, Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Brewers. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here or visit his blog Nick Knows Best.