Ochai Agbaji Becomes Leader in the 2022 Wooden Award Race

The Wooden Award battle has been wild all season. Drew Timme opened the season as the odds-on favorite, but he has fallen down the list. I’ve seen multiple players take their spot at the top, but at the end of January, Kansas guard Ochai Agbaji holds the top spot.

Agbaji was one of the top preseason contenders, but he has taken his spot as the favorite. Saying that, he has a host of challengers.

Let’s see how the top college basketball betting sites view the Wooden Award race.

Ochai Agbaji was one of 25 players to make the midseason 2022 Wooden Award watch list. He might be the favorite, but he has plenty of competition.

Oscar Tshiebwe might be the most dominant player in college basketball. He averages 16.3 points and 15.1 rebounds. He made his presence felt with 17 points and 14 rebounds in Kentucky’s victory over Kansas.

The rest of the top 10 includes Drew Timme, Paolo Banchero, and Kofi Cockburn. They opened with the best odds, but we’ve seen them slip just a bit. There’s still enough time for them to bounce back, so I wouldn’t count them out.

Right now, Agbaji belongs in the spotlight. Let’s check out his season and see why he is the favorite to win the 2022 Wooden Award.

The Kansas Jayhawks came into the season with a lot of hype. They added transfer Remy Martin and returned David McCormack. However, Ochai Agbaji remained their biggest star. He opened the season with (+1800) odds to win the 2022 Wooden Award, but he quickly moved up the board.

Agbaji kicked off his season with an impressive performance against Michigan State.

He continued his strong play, scoring 20+ points in seven of his first nine games. Despite a loss to Dayton, Kansas remained top 10 in the AP Poll. Agbaji had a few down games, but Kansas continued to win.

They reached No. 6 in the AP Poll, but a loss to No. 25 Texas Tech dropped them to No. 9. Agbaji put up 24 points on a very impressive 6-for-9 three-point shooting. He followed that up by leading Kansas to a victory over No. 15 Iowa State.

Following two solid performances, Agbaji cemented himself as the Wooden Award favorite. Check out his numbers against Kansas State and Texas Tech.

Agbaji made sure Kansas wouldn’t lose to Texas Tech for the second time. His big performance helped Kansas defeat them in a double-overtime thriller.

That gave him the edge in the Wooden Award race. Agbaji posted a rough stat line on Saturday in Kansas’ loss to Kentucky. He put up 13 points on 4-14 field goal shooting. It was a tough game, but he remains atop the board for the Wooden Award.

Overall, Agbaji averages 20.9 points on 51.5 percent field goal shooting, and shoots 46.4 percent from three-point range. He’ll have a chance to strengthen his position with back-to-back matchups over top 25 teams.

It’s been fun to watch players like Ochai Agbaji, Johnny Davis, and Drew Timme battle for the Wooden Award. Now, Oscar Tshiebwe has thrown his name into the ring. It wouldn’t surprise me if we saw someone else make a late-season run.

We have February and March before finding out who wins the 2022 Wooden Award. Agbaji might have the best odds, but I can’t confidently say one player has the advantage over the others.

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