Cade Cunningham Named Wooden Award Finalist, All-American

STILLWATER – Oklahoma State star guard Cade Cunningham was named one of five finalists for the 2021 John R. Wooden Award and was selected to the Wooden All-America Team by the Los Angeles Athletic Club.

Cunningham is the first OSU player to be named a Wooden Award finalist, but the third Cowboy to earn Wooden Award All-America honors, joining James Anderson in 2010 and John Lucas III in 2005.

The Arlington, Texas native is coming off a sensational season that included First Team All-America honors from the Associated Press, the National Association of Basketball Coaches, USA Today, the Sporting News, The Athletic and the United States Basketball Writers Association. Cunningham was named the Wayman Tisdale Award recipient as the nation's top freshman, and is also a finalist for the Naismith Trophy and the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year awards

He is a nine-time recipient of the Big 12 Player/Newcomer of the Week honor, which is the most by any player this year and the most in school history. At 20.1 points per game, Cunningham finished the season as the Big 12's top scorer, and only two other players in all of college basketball over the last 20 seasons can match his stellar all-around stat line.

Cunningham was named a Wooden Award finalist alongside Baylor's Jared Butler (Baylor), Ayo Dosunmu of Illinois, Iowa's Luka Garza and Corey Kispert from Gonzaga.

The 45th annual presentation of the Wooden Award to the men's and women's most outstanding college basketball player will take place on SportsCenter on ESPN on April 6.

Created in 1976, previous winners of the Wooden Award include Larry Bird ('79), Michael Jordan ('84), Tim Duncan ('97), Kevin Durant ('07), Candace Parker ('07; '08), Maya Moore ('09; '11), Chiney Ogwumike ('14), Breanna Stewart ('15; '16) and last year's recipients, Sabrina Ionescu of Oregon and Obi Toppin of Dayton.