SAN DIEGO – San Diego State men's basketball's Matt Bradley is one of the early favorites to earn the 2022 John R. Wooden Award for the national player of the year, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced this morning.
Bradley, a 6-4, 220-pound guard, is the first Aztec to be in the running for the Wooden Award, since Malachi Flynn appeared on the national ballot during the 2019-20 season.
In 2020-21, his third and final season competing for California, Bradley was 1-of-5 players in Division I to average 18.0 points per game, while shooting at least 45.5 percent from the floor, 36.4 percent from distance, a minimum of 82.1 percent from the line, and grabbing 4.6 rebounds per game. Except for his rebounding average, those statistics would have all ranked in the top five in the Mountain West last year. In addition, the San Bernardino, Calif., native, was one of 23 players in a Power-5 conference to shoot at least 45.5 percent overall and 36.4 percent from the bonus distance in 2020-21 and would have been the only player in the Mountain West to compile that combination of statistics last season.
A 2020-21 second-team All-Pac12 performer, he scored in double figures in 21 of the 22 games in which he appeared, finishing with 15+ points 15 times, and 20+ points 11 times, including a career-high 29 points vs. Colorado on Feb. 13, 2021. His 11 20+ point games ranked No. 2 in the Pac-12 last year.
Over a three-year, 85 game career with the Bears, he scored 1,292 points and left California as the program's No. 21 career scorer. The 2021-22 Mountain West Preseason Newcomer of the Year is one of 12 players nationally to score at least 1,290 points in the last three seasons.
Chosen by a preseason poll of national college basketball experts, the watch list is composed of 50 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for the highest individual honor in college basketball, the Wooden Award All American Team and Most Outstanding Player Award. Of the 50 players on the preseason list, 35 are upperclassmen, including 17 seniors, among them Bradley.
Bradley is the only player in the Mountain West to be included on the Wooden Award watch list, and in combination with the Basketball Hall of Fame Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award Watch List, which he was included on two weeks ago, he is one of 10 players to appear on both lists.
Players not chosen to the preseason list are still eligible for the Wooden Award midseason list, late season list, and the National Ballot. The National Ballot consists of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the Wooden Award. Nearly 1,000 voters will rank in order 10 of those 15 players when voting opens prior to
the NCAA Tournament and will allow voters to take into consideration performance during early round games. The Wooden Award All American Team will be announced the week of the "Elite Eight" round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the 2022 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Wendy's following the NCAA Tournament in April.
About the John R. Wooden Award
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award Program hosts the most prestigious honors in college basketball recognizing the Wooden Award Most Outstanding Player for men and women, the Wooden Award All American Teams for men and women and the annual selection of the Wooden Award Legends of Coaching recipient. Honorees have proven to their university that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the John R. Wooden Award as set forth by Coach Wooden and the Wooden Award Steering Committee, including making progress towards graduation and maintaining at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA. Previous winners include Larry Bird ('79), Michael Jordan ('84), Tim Duncan ('97), Kevin Durant ('07), Candace Parker ('07; '08), Maya Moore ('09; '11), Chiney Ogwumike ('14), Breanna Stewart ('15 and '16) and last year's recipients, Paige Bueckers of Connecticut and Luka Garza of Iowa.
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed nearly one million dollars to the universities' general scholarship fund in the names of the Wooden Award All American recipients and has sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with the Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament brings together Special Olympics athletes and Wooden Award All Americans and coaches in attendance. It is hosted at the Los Angeles Athletic Club during the John R. Wooden Award Weekend.
-SDSU-