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.

• Johni Broome’s Wooden Award winner odds (-210) have skyrocketed after Auburn’s fantastic start to the season.

• 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 National Championship 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.

Johni Broome has jumped to the front of the Wooden Award odds frontrunners after a red-hot start to the 2024-25 campaign. Broome has already led the Auburn Tigers to huge wins over UNC, Memphis, Iowa State, and Houston. 

Those wins would complete the resumes of most top seeds, but the Auburn Tigers haven’t even started conference play yet!

Can Cooper Flagg and the rest of the field catch up to Broome, one of the best two-way frontcourt players in the country?

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

Below, we have listed the odds favorites to win the 2025 Men’s Wooden Award in a table, including Johni Broome, Cooper Flagg, Kam Jones, Chaz Lanier, and others.

The odds below are courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook. Follow the listed link and place your favorite Wooden Award future bet at FanDuel: Bet $5, Get $300 in Bonus Bets if Your Bet Wins.

2025 Men’s Wooden Award Winner Favorites

G Johni Broome (-210) - 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 18.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.6 blocks per game on an efficient 56.4% 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. 

But, even more impressive, is that there’s a case he’s the best player 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 (11.5) and swatting just shy of three blocks per game on the other end.

Short of an injury or an absolute collapse on an individual or team level, Broome should be considered the obvious frontrunner to take home the Wooden Award for the 2024-25 season!

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F Cooper Flagg (+300) - Duke

Don’t let a few late-game mistakes and turnovers take over your objectivity. 

Objectively, Cooper Flagg is one of the best two-way players in the country, utilizing his incredible length, athleticism, size, strength, and skill to lead the Blue Devils in points, rebounds, assists, and blocks per game.

Thus far, Flagg has averaged 16.3 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.3 blocks per game on 42.1% shooting from the floor.

Flagg will have to get more consistent in knocking down shots from behind the arc, as well as limiting turnovers.

However, he should continue to improve throughout the season, and if that happens, he could wind up being the best player in the country.

Pair those improvements with a successful Duke season, and a Wooden Award is certainly within the realm of possibility for Flagg.

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C Kam Jones (+650) - Marquette

After being the leading scorer over the past two seasons for the Marquette Golden Eagles, expectations were sky-high for Kam Jones entering the 2024-25 campaign.

And yet, somehow, Jones has managed to not only meet those expectations, but eclipse them thus far.

Entering conference season, Jones has posted 20.3 points, 6.4 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game on a ludicrous 54% shooting from the floor. It is tough to qualify or quantify how impressive it is for a guard to be that efficient at the collegiate level.

Despite his sizable increase in offensive usage, Jones has also managed to keep his turnovers to a minimum, averaging just 1.5 per game this season.

Marquette has suffered a tough loss to the third-ranked Iowa State Cyclones, a true national championship-contending squad once March rolls around, and a high-octane Dayton team; however, the Golden Eagles have been rock-solid overall.

If Marquette were to win the Big East regular season and conference tournament, and Jones kept pace with these averages, it would be hard to hand the Wooden Award to anyone else.

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2025 Men’s Wooden Award - My Pick 

Johni Broome - Auburn (-210 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/center Johni Broome will likely keep that trend moving forward.

Broome’s prowess on both ends of the floor, as well as Auburn’s team success, are huge differentiating factors that could give him an edge over most other potential Wooden Award candidates.

The only other player who dominates offensively and defensively, posts huge statistics, and is on one of the best teams in the country is Flagg.

However, it has become increasingly rare for a freshman to win the award.

Further, Broome is substantially more efficient offensively than Flagg, shooting roughly 15% better from the floor. Efficiency matters.

Ultimately, Auburn will probably be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will have a terrific opportunity to win the SEC Tournament and regular season titles.

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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?