Saunders Nabs Spot on Wooden Preseason Top 50 List

The day after senior Wesley Saunders stuffed the stat sheet in a matchup against Holy Cross, the wing got word that he had been tapped for the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 list. The award, according to its website, “is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball.”

The news came just two weeks after ESPN deemed Saunders the 46th best player in the nation and six days after he “headline[d] the Lou Henson Award Preseason Watch List.”

Saunders was the only Ancient Eight player to be named to the Wooden Award list, and will have to best the top players in the nation if he is to earn individual honors in late March. Others nominated include prospective No. 1 2015 NBA Draft picks Jahlil Okafor and Karl-Anthony Towns, who hail from Duke and Kentucky, respectively.

Past winners of the Wooden Award include NBA phenoms Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, and Anthony Davis. Per Harvard Athletics, Saunders is just the second Harvard men’s basketball player in program history to appear on the list, joining the ranks of Jeremy Lin ’10.

On Sunday, Saunders tallied 24 points, 12 rebounds, four steals, three blocks, and three assists in a loss to Holy Cross.