Tres Tinkle named to Wooden Award Midseason Top 25

Chosen by a poll of national college basketball experts based on their performances during the first half of the 2019-20 season, the list comprises 25 student-athletes who are front-runners for the sport's most prestigious honor.

The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2020 John R. Wooden Award Men's Player of the Year presented by Wendy's. Players not chosen to the preseason list are still eligible for the Wooden Award 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 2020 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Wendy's during the ESPN College Basketball Awards on Friday, April 10.

Tinkle, a senior from Missoula, Mont., is the only Pac-12 player in the top 10 in the league in scoring (second, 19.7), rebounding (ninth, 6.9), assists (ninth, 3.9) and steals (third, 1.9).

He has scored in double figures in 79 consecutive games, just 10 games shy of the Oregon State record held by Mel Counts. Tinkle is fourth on Oregon State's career scoring list with 1,937 points and fifth on the program's career rebounding list with 763 boards.

The Beavers are 11-3 overall and 1-1 in Pac-12 with conference home games against Arizona State (Thursday at 8 p.m.) and No. 24 Arizona (Sunday at 7 p.m.) coming up.

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 Legend 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), and last year's recipients, Sabrina Ionescu of Oregon and Zion Williamson of Duke.

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.

Oregon State Athletics