Tres Tinkle Named To Wooden Award Watch List

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Tres Tinkle was one of 50 players named to the watch list for the 2020 John R. Wooden Award on Tuesday. Tinkle has now been named to the preseason watch lists for the John R. Wooden Award, the Naismith Trophy Men's Player of the Year and the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award.

Chosen by a preseason poll of national college basketball experts, the John R. Wooden Award list is comprised of 50 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for the most prestigious honors in college basketball, the Wooden Award All American Team and Most Outstanding Player Award.

The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2020 John R. Wooden Award Men's Player of the Year. 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 2020 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Wendy's during the ESPN College Basketball Awards on Friday, April 10, 2020

Tinkle, a senior from Missoula, Mont., was selected to the All-Pac-12 First Team each of the past two years. He averaged 20.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.5 blocked shots in 36.4 minutes per game last season and extended his streak of scoring in double figures to 65 consecutive games.

Tinkle has scored 1,661 career points, the seventh most in Oregon State history. He needs 512 points to pass Gary Payton (2,172) and become the all-time leading scorer in Oregon State history. He needs 948 points to pass Don MacLean (2,608) and become the all-time leading scorer in Pac-12 history.

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