Jordan Adams, Kyle Anderson named to Wooden watch list

UCLA sophomores Jordan Adams and Kyle Anderson both made the John R. Wooden Award watch list Tuesday, the latest iteration of a relatively meaningless preseason hype ritual.

Two past Bruins have taken home the prize, given each year to the top player in college basketball: Marques Johnson as the inaugural winner in 1977, and Ed O’Bannon in 1995.

Expected to be one of the conference’s top scorers, Adams led UCLA with 16 points in their season-opening win over Drexel last week. The 6-foot-5 guard tied for the eighth in the Pac-12 as a freshman with 15.3 points per game.

Anderson was also on the watch list for the Bob Cousy Award, given to the nation’s top point guard. He had 12 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists against the Dragons.

Other mentions from the Pac-12 are: Arizona State point guard Jahii Carson, Colorado guard Spencer Dinwiddie, Arizona forward Aaron Gordon and Stanford forward Dwight Powell. You can see the full list here.