LOS ANGELES – UCLA freshman guard Lonzo Ball has been named as one of 15 finalists for the 2017 John R. Wooden Award, presented annually to the nation's top college basketball player.
 
Ball, a 6-foot-6 guard from Chino Hills, Calif., has averaged 15.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and a nation-leading 7.6 assists per game in all 30 contests for UCLA. He has logged a 3.06 assist-turnover ratio while having broken the UCLA record for single-season assists by a freshman.
 
Ball is one of five freshmen, along with Markelle Fultz (Washington), Josh Jackson (Kansas), Lauri Markkanen (Arizona) and Malik Monk (Kentucky) to be named among the 15 finalists for this season's award.
 
Also on the final Wooden Award ballot are Dillon Brooks (Oregon), Bonzie Colson (Notre Dame), Ethan Happ (Wisconsin), Josh Hart (Villanova), Justin Jackson (North Carolina), Luke Kennard (Duke), Frank Mason III (Kansas), Caleb Swanigan (Purdue) and Nigel Williams-Goss (Gonzaga).
 
The Pac-12 leads all conferences with four players on this year's national ballot, followed by the ACC and Big 12 with three selections each. In addition, the Big Ten has two selections, while the Big East, SEC and WCC each have one selection.
 
All balloted players have been certified by the university to meet or exceed the qualifications for the Wooden Award.
 
Voting will take place from March 13-20 and voters, consisting of nearly 1,000 memberse of the national college basketball media, take into consideration a player's entire season of play, as well as opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Fans can vote online through the fan voting site, sponsored by Wendy's, by visiting www.woodenawardvote.com.
 
The 41st annual presentation of the John R. Wooden Award to the men's and women's most outstanding college basketball player will be the anchor presentation of the ESPN College Basketball Awards Presented by Wendy's on ESPN2 on Friday, April 7.