LOS ANGELES – UCLA freshmen Lonzo Ball and TJ Leaf have been selected as two of 25 players to the midseason John R. Wooden Award list, as announced Wednesday.
 
Ball was named to the 50-man preseason watch list, while Leaf has been one of four players in the nation added to the watch list's 25-man midseason edition.
 
UCLA is one of five schools in the country, along with North Carolina (Joel Berry II, Justin Jackson), Kentucky (Malik Monk, De'Aaron Fox), Kansas (Frank Mason III, Josh Jackson) and Wisconsin (Ethan Happ, Nigel Hayes), to have at least two players on the midseason watch list.
 
Both Ball and Leaf have made major impacts for UCLA, starting all 17 games. Ball, a 6-foot-6 guard from Chino Hills, Calif., has averaged 14.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 8.0 assists per game. Leaf has registered 17.4 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.
 
In addition, Ball and Leaf are among seven freshmen on the midseason watch list. Other freshmen on the midseason list include De'Aaron Fox (Kentucky), Markelle Fultz (Washington), Josh Jackson (Kansas), Justin Jackson (North Carolina) and Lauri Markkanen (Arizona).
 
The 41st annual presentation of the John R. Wooden Award to the men's and women's most outstanding basketball player will be the anchor presentation of the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show presented by Wendy's on ESPN2 on Friday, April 7, 2017.
 
The men's and women's John R. Wooden Award All-American Teams will be honored during the ceremony, and the 2017 Wooden Award Legends of Coaching Trophy will be presented to Muffet McGraw, head women's basketball coach at the University of Notre Dame.
 
Ranked No. 4 in this week's AP and USA Today Coaches polls, UCLA returns to action at Colorado on Thursday, Jan. 12.  Game time is 8 p.m. PT (9 p.m. MT). The Bruins' game at Colorado will be nationally televised on FS1.