Men's Wooden Award Winner Predictions, Betting Odds & Favorites to Win 2025

• After winning back-to-back Wooden Awards, Zach Edey opted to stay into the 2024 NBA Draft, leaving the award open in the upcoming 2024-25 campaign.

• Cooper Flagg has surged into the lead for Wooden Award winner odds, currently boasting odds of -1050.

• Centers have won the Wooden Award in each of the past four seasons.

Since 1977, the John R. Wooden Award has been given to the most outstanding player in college basketball. One thousand sportswriters and sportscasters from all over the country vote for the player they deem the most worthy of the award based on individual statistics, team performance, and more.

Last season, Zach Edey became just the second player to win two Wooden Awards, leading Purdue to the NCAAB Tournament game and averaging 25.2 points, 12.2 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game on an astoundingly efficient 62.3% shooting from the field.

Despite an incredible start to the season on both ends of the floor, Johni Broome has fallen from a consensus favorite to win the Wooden Award to a significant underdog due to Cooper Flagg’s recent play.

Can anyone catch Cooper Flagg, who appears to be a runaway favorite for the Wooden Award in the 2024-25 season?

Find out below which of these players are our favorites to win the Wooden Award this season and their respective odds!

2025 NCAA Men’s Wooden Award Odds

2025 Men’s Wooden Award Winner Favorites

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F Cooper Flagg (-1050 at FanDuel) - Duke

There just is not much left to say about Cooper Flagg, Duke’s sensational 6-foot-9 freshman, who is averaging the most points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals for the Blue Devils.

Flagg’s averages continually rise but, as of late January, he is averaging 20 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 “stocks” (steals and blocks) per game on just shy of 50% shooting from the field.

What makes Flagg dangerous is the fact that he has no weaknesses; he can handle the ball, be a playmaker for teammates, create his own shot, and shoot the ball with efficiency.

On the other end of the floor, Flagg can defend virtually any player on the floor at 6-foot-9, which is an extremely rare trait at any level. He has lightning quick hands and feet and terrific length to contest bigger players.

As a team, Duke currently ranks in the top three in adjusted efficiency margin, per KenPom, and is atop the ACC.

Flagg’s brilliance on both ends of the floor has him as a heavy odds favorite to win the Wooden Award this year, and it is challenging to see that changing between now and the end of the season.

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F Johni Broome (+550 at FanDuel) - Auburn

Broome’s return to Auburn immediately made the Tigers a title-contending team again; however, what he has done so far this season has made them the best team in the country.

Through the end of December, Broome has posted 17.8 points, 10.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 2.8 blocks per game on an efficient 53.0% shooting mark from the floor.

Broome has been the best player for the Tigers, arguably the best team in the country, on both ends of the floor. 

Broome leads the Tigers, the first-ranked team in adjusted offensive efficiency, in points per game, while also grabbing double-digit rebounds (10.9) and swatting just shy of three blocks per game on the other end.

Unfortunately for Broome, Cooper Flagg has been playing some of the best basketball we have ever seen from a freshman, leading Duke to an undefeated start in ACC play while leading the team in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals per game.

Broome could backdoor his way to this award but he will have to do even more than he already is doing to make a strong enough case to dethrone Flagg.

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G Braden Smith (+2500 at FanDuel) - Purdue

Losing a two-time Wooden Award winner in 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey, and not bringing in any substantial recruits or transfers in the portal, would normally sink a team.

However, the Boilers were able to return a few key players, including point guard Braden Smith, a below-the-rim guard with elite fundamentals and game control, similar to Chris Paul when he was in college.

In no way are we suggesting that Smith will have anywhere near the professional career that CP3 had, but there are some resemblances at the collegiate level.

Smith has not only helped the Boilers stay afloat, he has led them to national relevancy, as they are a top 10 team in the country at the time this was written.

This season, Smith has posted 15 points, dished out nine assists, pulled down five rebounds, and recorded more than two steals per game on 43% shooting from the field, 39% shooting from 3-point land, and 91% shooting from the charity stripe.

Smith has been able to do all of this despite not being able to dunk, not being exceptionally fast, and standing at just 6-feet tall.

In other seasons, Smith might have a better chance to land the Wooden Award, but he unfortunately is playing at the same time as generational talent Cooper Flagg.

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2025 Men’s Wooden Award - My Pick 

Cooper Flagg - Duke (-1050 at FanDuel) 

Centers and power forwards have won the Wooden Award every season since 2019, indicating a trend that is worth paying attention to.

In this case, power forward Cooper Flagg seems poised to keep that trend for this season.

Flagg leads his team in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals per game as a freshman, an incredible feat.

It would take a historic collapse for the Wooden Award to go anywhere except Flagg’s hands.

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Men’s Wooden Award History

Who Won the Men’s Wooden Award in 2024?

After dominating every team the Purdue Boilermakers faced, Zach Edey secured his second consecutive Wooden Award last season in 2024. 

Edey averaged a monstrous 25.2 points, 12.2 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game on a tremendous 62.3% shooting from the field. Edey anchored the Boilermakers’ defense while being the offensive hub on the other end of the floor.

Edey became just the second player in the history of college basketball to win back-to-back Wooden Awards, joining former Virginia legend Ralph Sampson. 

Like Edey, Sampson was a dominant 7-foot-4 center with incredible touch and footwork around the rim.

Who Has Won the Men's Wooden Award?