Berger and Holmes Named To Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 Watch List
LOS ANGELES – Indiana’s graduate student guard Grace Berger and senior forward Mackenzie Holmes were both named to the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 Watch List.
Chosen by a preseason poll of national college basketball experts, the list is comprised of 50 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for the most prestigious honors in college basketball, the Wooden Award All American Team™ and Most Outstanding Player Award.
The duo has led Indiana to a 3-0 start for the sixth time in seven seasons, coming off a 79-67 win at No. 11/5 Tennessee on Monday night. They both posted double-doubles in the victory, Holmes leading the way with a team-high 16 points and 10 boards while Berger added 16 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and two steals. In three games, Holmes is averaging a team-high 16.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while shooting 72.4 percent from the floor. Berger is adding 11.0 points, a team-high 7.3 rebounds and 5.6 assists and shooting 50 percent from the floor. The pair was also named to the 2022-23 preseason All-Big Ten teams and are both up for national positional awards in the Cheryl Miller Award (Berger) and Lisa Leslie Award (Holmes)
The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2023 John R. Wooden Award Women’s Player of the Year presented by Wendy’s. Players not chosen to the preseason list are still eligible for the Wooden Award™ midseason list, late season list, and the National Ballot. The National Ballot consists of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the Wooden Award. Nearly 1,000 voters will rank in order 10 of those 15 players when voting opens prior to the NCAA Tournament and will allow voters to take into consideration performance during early round games. The Wooden Award All American Team™ will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the 2023 John R. Wooden Award will be presented in Los Angeles in April.