Jefferson Named to Wooden Award Late Midseason Top 20

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Iowa State forward Joshua Jefferson has been named to the Wooden Award Late Midseason Top 20. Of the 20 players, eight of them are from the Big 12 Conference.

Jefferson has once again been Mr. Do-It-All for the Cyclones this year. He's averaging 17.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He's the only Power Conference player in the country to average those numbers. Only six players have done so in an entire season in the country going back to 1974-75, with no one in the Big 12 having accomplished it. He turned in triple-doubles against West Virginia and UCF, becoming the first player in Big 12 history to have multiple triple-doubles against league opponents in a career, while doing so in the same season.

Selected by a panel of national college basketball experts, the list comprises 20 student-athletes who are frontrunners for the most prestigious honors in college basketball: the Wooden Award® All-American Team and the Wooden Award® Most Outstanding Player.

The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2026 John R. Wooden Award® Men's Player of the Year. Players not selected for the late midseason list remain eligible for inclusion on the Wooden Award® National Ballot. The National Ballot will feature 15 top players who have demonstrated to their universities that they meet or exceed the Wooden Award® qualifications.

Wooden Award® voters will be invited to rank 10 of the 15 players on the ballot in order of preference when voting opens during the NCAA Tournament. Voters will also consider performances in the tournament's early rounds, players' contributions to their teams, and their character. The Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced during the week of the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight.