Honestly, if you were asked who the John R. Wooden Award winner was, would you know what to say? Maybe yes, if you are a true NCAAB Fan, or because star Zach Edey won it twice in a row recently in 2024 and 2023.
But what about the other winners? that’s why this award doesn’t have the relevance it deserves, since out of the 33 Conferences and countless teams, we could find hundreds of players who deserve the recognition.
Here in MyBookie we have the list of all those who have had the honor of winning it all in the long College Basketball Regular Season until the beginning of March Madness.
Outstanding College Basketball Players in the USA
Have you ever thought how difficult it can be to win this award for a player from a lesser known or overrated conference? Here we show you cases of players who won it with teams not so powerful or known, as the case of Jameer Nelson of Saint Joseph’s University, who in 2004 won the trophy.
On the other hand, and mentioning Zach Edey again as an example, it must be recognized that College Basketball is a great supplier of players for the NBA, let Memphis Grizzlies, who recently signed the 2.24m player.
See below the list that has made the honor roll in college basketball:
Men’s Winners of the John R. Wooden Award
- Year: 2023
- Winner: Zach Edey
- Team: Purdue University
- Year: 2024
- Winner: Zach Edey
- Team: Purdue University
| Year | Player | School |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Oscar Tshiebwe |  University of Kentucky |
| 2021 | Luka Garza |  University of Iowa |
| 2020 | Obi Toppin |  University of Dayton |
| 2019 | Zion Williamson |  Duke University |
| 2018 | Jalen Brunson |  Villanova University |
| 2017 | Frank Mason III |  University of Kansas |
| 2016 | Buddy Hield |  University of Oklahoma |
| 2015 | Frank Kaminsky |  University of Wisconsin |
| 2014 | Doug McDermott |  Creighton University |
| 2013 | Trey Burke |  University of Michigan |
| 2012 | Anthony Davis | University of Kentucky |
| 2011 | Jimmer Fredette |  Brigham Young University |
| 2010 | Evan Turner |  Ohio State University |
| 2009 | Blake Griffin | University of Oklahoma |
| 2008 | Tyler Hansbrough |  University of North Carolina |
| 2007 | Kevin Durant |  University of Texas |
| 2006 | J.J. Redick | Duke University |
| 2005 | Andrew Bogut |  University of Utah |
| 2004 | Jameer Nelson |  Saint Joseph’s University |
| 2003 | T.J. Ford | University of Texas |
| 2002 | Jason Williams | Duke University |
| 2001 | Shane Battier | Duke University |
| 2000 | Kenyon Martin |  University of Cincinnati |
| 1999 | Elton Brand | Duke University |
| 1998 | Antawn Jamison | University of North Carolina |
| 1997 | Tim Duncan |  Wake Forest University |
| 1996 | Marcus Camby |  University of Massachusetts |
| 1995 | Ed O’Bannon |  University of California, LA |
| 1994 | Glenn Robinson |  Purdue University |
| 1993 | Calbert Cheaney |  Indiana University |
| 1992 | Christian Laettner | Duke University |
| 1991 | Larry Johnson |  University of Nevada, Las Vegas |
| 1990 | Lionel Simmons |  La Salle University |
| 1989 | Sean Elliott |  University of Arizona |
| 1988 | Danny Manning | University of Kansas |
| 1987 | David Robinson |  United States Naval Academy |
| 1986 | Walter Berry |  St. John’s University |
| 1985 | Chris Mullin | St. John’s University |
| 1984 | Michael Jordan | University of North Carolina |
| 1983 | Ralph Sampson |  University of Virginia |
| 1982 | Ralph Sampson | University of Virginia |
| 1981 | Danny Ainge | Brigham Young University |
| 1980 | Darrell Griffith |  University of Louisville |
| 1979 | Larry Bird |  Indiana State University |
| 1978 | Phil Ford | University of North Carolina |
| 1977 | Marques Johnson | University of California, LA |
Where do so many NCAA Basketball stars come from?
There are 30 Conferences with great possibilities to offer excellent players, then you realize that there are many opportunities to choose the contenders that aspire to lift the John R Wooden.
Also, with the exception of the DI Independent Conference (which has only 1 team), each Conference has a minimum of 8 teams and this is where we recommend paying attention, as there is a select group of Conferences that are generally the favorites for basketball fans.
See the powerful conferences who participate each year in the NCAA Tournament, and the rest below:
Power 5 Conferences
The Conference was formed in 1994, beginning play in 1996, and since then, has won 3 national titles, in 2008, 2021 and 2022.
And talking about the best, the current Conference Champion is the Texas Longhorns (2023-2024), and the Big 12’s most winningest team in terms of championships are the Oklahoma Sooners with 14: 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020.
The Southeastern Conference originated in 1932, and in that year made its debut with 13 teams, Kentucky being the first conference champion.
Alabama is the reigning SEC Champion (2024), while Kentucky is the big winner with 49 Conference Championships.
It is also worth mentioning that the SEC has won 11 National Championships from 1932 to the present day: 1948, 1949, 1951, 1958, 1958, 1978, 1978, 1994, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2006, 2007, 2012.
This is one of the longest running conferences in NCAA Basketball, having originated in 1891, under the tutelage of an education teacher named James Naismith.
Their current champion is Purdue, who surprisingly has 2 Championships in a row and won in 2023 and 2024.
Following the winner’s trail, the Big Ten has the Purdue Boilermakers as the most SEC Championship winners, with 26 titles won.
How many National Championships does the Big Ten Conference have? From 1896, its official launch date, to date, it has 10 titles.
One of the fan-favorite Conferences, as it has, along with the Pac-12, the most national titles, with 15, the last time being in 2019, when Virginia claimed the win.
Its origin dates back to 1953, and by the following year NC State would become the first ACC champion, but who really has the honors is Duke, who has won the conference championship 22 times.
Currently, the NC State Wolfpack is the defending champion and holds 11 titles behind North Carolina and the Blue Devils as mentioned above.
Although it was founded in 1915, it was not until 1986 that this Conference began to include the Championship Tournament playoff format. Thus, the Pac-12 is the conference with the most teams that have won the National Championship on 15 times, as well as the ACC.
Thus, it was UCLA who was crowned for the first time in the Conference Championship and California, the first to win the regular season in 1915.
Arizona holds the record for most Pac-12 titles with nine championships, while Oregon was the last conference winner in 2023/24.
Conferences to Watch
AAC
The Conference is one of the youngest in College Basketball, having been created only in 2014 as a result of the split of the original Big East and American Athletic.
Cincinnati (2018, 2019), Houston (2021, 2022) and SMU (2015, 2017) are the winningest Conference Championship teams, twice each.
The current champions are the UAB Blazers (2024) and Louisville was the first to win the AAC title in 2014. Being a young conference, it was in 2014 when the Huskies (now in the Big East) captured the only national title for the AAC.
Big East
It should be remembered that originally this Conference was divided into 2, the AAC and the current Big East in 1980, where UConn is the jewel to follow, as it left a national title that is officially recognized for the American Athletic.
Why follow the Huskies? They are currently the Champions (2024), they also own 8 Conference Championships (1990, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2004, 2011, 2024), just like Georgetown and even more remarkable, they are the current National Title Winners.
It is worth mentioning that the Big East and its teams have won the National Championship 10 times: 1984, 1985, 1999, 2003, 2003, 2004, 2004, 2011, 2013, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2023 and 2024.
Mountain West
The Aztecs are the strongest team at this moment, they have 7 Conference Championships won, and in the March Madness, they almost made it to the Sweet 16.
The 2024 Champion is New Mexico Lobos, the second winningest team in the Mountain West with 5 Championships won.
From here, these two teams are the ones that have a chance each season to advance, but so far, neither they nor any other team in the Conference has managed to win the national title.
WCC
Incredibly, and with similar situations as the Big West Conference, this program has one national title, with San Francisco being the most deserving of men’s basketball honors for the West Coast Conference.
Although it has been absent from the limelight in recent years, the Conference has another strong team, and Gonzaga is the one that has taken the lead here.
It is a team to consider in every season, as it has won 21 Conference Championships, and is a strong candidate to be always in the lead and qualified to the March Madness.
Another team to watch out for is the reigning 2024 Champion Saint Mary’s Gaels, who, along with Gonzaga, have been the talk of college basketball since 1987.
Weak Conferences, Underdogs
America East
This Conference created in 1980 has no teams that have won the national title, in fact, in the March Madness Tournament few teams manage to be the surprise.
Vermont is the most notable representative of the America East, winning the Conference Championship 11 times and not only that, it is the currently defending Conference Champion (2024).
^
ASUN
Here we must clarify that this Conference created in 1979 has had several movements of teams to other conferences, for example, we have Belmont Bruins (Missouri Valley Conference), who won 5 times, or UCF (Big 12), who also won 4 times.
This is why, Florida Gulf Coast should be recognized as the immediate successor, because it has won 3 times (2013, 2016, 2017) the ASUN title and part of the original teams that remain here: Bellarmine, Lipscomb, North Florida and Stetson.
From here, we can highlight that Stetson Hatters is the current Champion (2024) and so far, no team belonging to the Conference has won the national title.
- Eastern Kentucky
- Stetson
- Lipscomb
- Austin Peay
- North Florida
- North Alabama
- FGCU
- Queens (NC)
- Kennesaw State
- Jacksonville
- Central Arkansas
- Bellarmine
Atlantic 10
Like the ASUN Conference, there was movement of teams to other conferences, such as Temple (AAC) or Xavier (Big East), where the Owls had 9 Championships won.
So Massachusetts officially becomes the team that has won the most times here: 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996. Then follows Saint Joseph’s: 1986, 1997, 2014, 2016.
Although it was founded in 1977, it still has no team that has won the national title. Thus, it is worth noting that its current champion team is Duquesne (2024).
- Loyola Chicago
- Richmond
- Dayton
- Massachusetts
- VCU
- Duquesne
- George Mason
- St. Bonaventure
- Saint Joseph’s
- La Salle
- Fordham
- Rhode Island
- Davidson
- Saint Louis
- George Washington
Big Sky
Until today, no team from the Conference has won the national title since it was founded in 1976.
Montana has 11 Conference Championships in its trophy cabinet, it is the most winning, and on the other hand, Montana State, has been a surprise by being Champion 2 times in a row (2023 and 2024), something similar to what happened with the Purdue team, from the Big Ten Conference.
Boise State was the first regular season champion in 1976.
- Eastern Washington
- Montana
- Northern Colorado
- Weber State
- Montana State
- Portland State
- Northern Arizona
- Idaho State
- Idaho
- Sacramento State
Big South
Since its founding in 1986, Winthrop (13), UNC Asheville (6) and Coastal Carolina (5 – now with the Sun Belt Conference) are the winningest teams, followed by Charleston Southern with 4 Championships.
Longwood Lancers is the reigning Champion (2024), while Charleston Southern was the first team in 1986 to win the regular season.
Despite being quite a few years old, no Big Souh team has ever won the national title.
- High Point
- UNC Asheville
- Gardner-Webb
- Winthrop
- Longwood
- Presbyterian
- Charleston Southern
- Radford
- USC Upstate
Big West
Formerly called the Pacific Coast Athletic Association, this conference was founded in 1976 and changed its name to the Big West to include and be more in line with the teams that were part of it at the beginning, since several were from outside California, as in the case of Hawaii.
UNLV (Mountain West) is the only team to have won the national title in 1990 and has seven conference championships, the most in the Big West, followed by Long Beach and Utah State with 6.
Currently, Long Beach State its the most recent Conference Champion, having won the award in 2024.
- UC Irvine
- UC San Diego
- UC Davis
- Hawaii
- Long Beach State
- UC Riverside
- CSUN
- UC Santa Barbara
- CSU Bakersfield
- Cal St. Fullerton
- Cal Poly
CAA
Charleston, who hails from the ASUN and Southern Conference, is the Champion team and the one that has remained after several changes over the years, making the Cougars the winningest team with 3 titles in 2018, 2023 and 2024.
In its beginnings, the Conference had Old Dominion, the team that has won the most Conference Championships and the first to win the regular season in 1980, since the creation of the Coastal Athletic Association.
Despite several years of competition, the Conference has no team that has won the national title.
- Charleston
- Drexel
- UNCW
- Hofstra
- Towson
- Delaware
- Stony Brook
- Monmouth
- Campbell
- Northeastern
- Elon
- North Carolina A+T
- William & Mary
- Hampton
CUSA
This is one of the Conferences that over the years has had different teams, where the original members from 1996 are no longer with us.
For example, let’s look at Memphis (AAC), an original member with six conference championships, followed by Cincinnati (Big 12) with four championships.
It should be noted that these changes hurt the Conference, as currently its winningest representative is Middle Tennessee, which has managed to win 2 Championship titles in 2016 and 2017.
With all these changes in Conference USA, UTEP Miners is the only team that has managed to win the national title. Western Kentucky is the reigning Conference Champion.
- Sam Houston
- Louisiana Tech
- Western Kentucky
- Liberty
- UTEP
- Middle Tennessee
- New Mexico State
- Jacksonville State
- FIU
DI Independent
Chicago State is the only representative of this Conference, where it participates in the Regular Season but does not belong to any established Athletic Conference.
So far, there is no record of a team that has achieved anything relevant in College Basketball in terms of national championships or titles.
- Chicago State
Horizon
Since the conference’s inception in 1980, the most successful period was in the early 2000s, when the Horizon League became one of the most prolific in all of college basketball, including Sweet 16 appearances and impressive March Madness victories for its teams.
Like other conferences, the Horizon has not been the exception in terms of teams moving to other conferences, such as the Butler Bulldogs (Big East), who is the winningest team in the conference, but not being present, Milwaukee and Northern Kentucky have won the most conference championships.
To this day, the Horizon does not have any team that has won the national title. Their most recent Champion is the Oakland Golden Grizzlies in 2024.
- Oakland
- Youngstown State
- Wright State
- Green Bay
- Milwaukee
- Northern Kentucky
- Purdue Fort Wayne
- Cleveland State
- Robert Morris
- IU Indy
- Detroit Mercy
Ivy League
Here we find 8 private universities, except for Cornell, which were founded in the colonial period and are called “the old 8”.
The first steps in basketball were taken in the 1987-88 season, when Cornell was crowned the inaugural champion. It is also worth mentioning that Princeton is the best team in the Conference, having won the title 29 times. The current 2024 Conference Champion is Yale.
Another fact to remember is that the Ivy League started playing March Madness starting in 2017 and so far, no team from here has won the national title.
^
MAAC
Iona Gaels is the most representative team of this Conference, since it has won the title 13 times and as in the other small conferences, this one has also had changes of teams throughout the years.
Since 1982, the year the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference was created, no team has won the national title. On the other hand, Saint Peter’s Peacocks is currently the Champion team.
- Quinnipiac
- Fairfield
- Marist
- Saint Peter’s
- Rider
- Niagara
- Iona
- Mount St. Mary’s
- Canisius
- Manhattan
- Siena
MAC
The Mid-American Conference is one of the few Conferences that has maintained its teams since 1980, when it was created.
Another great detail is that 3 teams are the most winning teams with 7 Championships, being Ball State Cardinals, Kent State Golden Flashes and Ohio Bobcats.
So far, no MAC team has won the national title. On the flipside, the Akron Zips are the recent 2024 champions, having won their fifth conference championship.
- Toledo
- Akron
- Ohio
- Central Michigan
- Bowling Green
- Miami (OH)
- Western Michigan
- Kent State
- Ball State
- Eastern Michigan
- NIU
- Buffalo
MEAC
Like most NCAA Conferences, basketball in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference was created in 1972 and as in other cases, the North Carolina A&T Aggies – now in the CAA Conference as of 2021 – is the winningest team, winning the trophy 16 times.
The same case with Hampton, which also belongs to the AAC, is the second winningest team, so it is Howard and South Carolina State that have taken the lead in this regard.
Howard Bison is their most recent Conference Champion (2024) and to date, no team from here has ever won the national title.
- Norfolk State
- N.C. Central
- Howard
- South Carolina State
- Morgan State
- Delaware State
- UMES
- Coppin State
MVC
As we have mentioned before, there are conferences that are not as popular or outstanding as the Power 5, being the case also of the Missouri Valley Conference. Therefore, it is worth mentioning the most outstanding teams to know and to follow.
No doubt, Creighton deserves the honors, they have won the conference championship 12 times, and although Drake is the reigning 2024 champion, it was the Bluejays who advanced to the 2024 Sweet 16.
Oklahoma A+M (1945, 1946) and Cincinnati (now in the Big 12) twice in 1961 and 1962, were the only teams to win the national title for this conference. And since then, no current team has ever won another tournament title.
- Indiana State
- Drake
- Bradley
- Belmont
- UNI
- Southern Illinois
- Illinois State
- Murray State
- Missouri State
- Evansville
- UIC
- Valparaiso
NEC
Merrimack, Wager and Fairleigh Dickinson are the teams to watch in the Northeast Conference, as they have been at the top of the rankings in the March Madness Tournament in recent years.
Yet it’s Robert Morris’ team – now in the Horizon League – that is the winningest team in the conference. So, who are the biggest winners? In this case they are: LIU Sharks (1984, 1997, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2018) and Fairleigh Dickinson (1985, 1988, 1998, 2005, 2016, 2019).
No NEC team has ever won the national title and Wagner Seahawks is the 2024 Conference Champion.
^
OVC
The Conference was inaugurated in 1949, but the Conference Championship has been interrupted several times in its first years of competition.
It was in 1975, when the tournament really began in the Ohio Valley Conference, leaving Murray State (now in the MVC) as the biggest winner with 18 championships.
Morehead State is currently the champion team, as well as the team with the most championships (6), because as has happened in other conferences, teams look for opportunities to improve and move to other NCAAB programs.
No OVC team has won the national title, so the only teams that stand out are Morehead State and Tennessee State.
- Morehead State
- UT Martin
- Little Rock
- Western Illinois
- Tennessee State
- SIUE
- Eastern Illinois
- Tennessee Tech
- Southern Indiana
- Southeast Missouri State
- Lindenwood
Patriot
This is another Conference to highlight, not so much for its achievements, but because it has kept its groups here over the years since 1991 when it was created.
Colgate, the reigning 2024 Champions, along with Bucknell and Holy Cross, are the winningest teams in the Conference Championship, so these 3 teams are the ones to pay special attention to during and after the regular season.
Incredibly, it is Holy Cross, the only team in the Patriot League to have won the national title in 1947, albeit in the Independent Conference at the time.
- Colgate
- American
- Boston University
- Bucknell
- Lafayette
- Lehigh
- Navy
- Army West Point
- Holy Cross
- Loyola Maryland
SoCon
Here we find another of the oldest conferences in the sport, since 1922 it has had a series of changes in the teams that compose it, for example, Clemson, Alabama, Ole Miss, are old universities that are no longer there.
Even so, we find Chattanooga as the most winningest in the Conference, with 12 Championships won, being ahead of East Tennessee State and Furman, which have also had relevance in the Southern Conference tournament.
With so much change in the conference, there is still no team that has won the national title. Samford is the reigning 2024 Champion.
- Samford
- UNC Greensboro
- Chattanooga
- Western Carolina
- Wofford
- Furman
- ETSU
- Mercer
- The Citadel
- VMI
Southland
Lamar University is the winningest team in the conference (1981, 1983, 2000, 2012) and as with other programs, the Southland is one of the weakest conferences in the NCAAB.
With no national titles won from 1981 to the present, this has been one of the conferences that has also been affected by changes of teams to other conferences, as in the case of Northeast Louisiana (6), which now belongs to the Sun Belt.
Now the team to follow is McNeese, the 2024 Champion and the one that represented the Conference in the March Madness tournament after 22 years in which they did it for the first time. Unfortunately, they did not advance from the first round.
- McNeese
- A&M-Corpus Christi
- Nicholls
- Lamar University
- Southeastern Louisiana
- Northwestern State
- Texas A&M-Commerce</li>
- New Orleans
- Houston Christian
- UIW
Summit League
Created in 1984, the Summit Conference has no national title winning team.
Valparaiso (now in the MVC) was the most winningest in the Conference, a place that now belongs to South Dakota State with 7 Championships won and who obtained the pass to the NCAA Tournament in 2024.
The Jackrabbits are the reigning champions and have Oral Roberts and North Dakota State as their biggest rivals.
- South Dakota State
- North Dakota
- Kansas City
- St. Thomas (MN)
- North Dakota State
- Omaha
- Denver
- Oral Roberts
- South Dakota
Sun Belt
Currently, James Madison is the 2024 Conference Champion and was also the representative in the NCAA Tournament, defeating Wisconsin and advancing to the Second Round, where they lost to Duke.
The teams to watch here, besides the Dukes, are South Alabama and Louisiana, who have also won the Conference Championship 5 times each.
Since its inception in 1977, no team from the Conference has won the national title.
- Appalachian State
- James Madison
- Troy
- Arkansas State
- Louisiana-Monroe
- Southern Missouri
- South Alabama
- Georgia State
- Georgia Southern
- Texas State
- Marshall
- Coastal Carolina
- Old Dominion
SWAC
One of the most overlooked conferences in NCAA Basketball is the Southwestern Athletic Conference, created in 1978, no team has won the national title to this day.
Grambling State was crowned for the first time in the Conference Championship in 2024, even earning a berth in March Madness, where it would fail to advance out of the First Round.
Texas Southern and Southern are the teams that have won the most Conference Championships, 11 and 9 respectively. From the SWAC, keep an eye on these 3 teams.
- Grambling State
- Alcorn
- Southern University
- Texas Southern
- Bethune-Cookman
- Jackson State
- Alabama A&M
- Arkansas-Pine Bluff
- Alabama State
- Prairie View A&M
- Florida A&M
- Mississippi Valley State
WAC
New Mexico State and UTEP, now both in Conference USA, are the most winning teams with 10 and 5 Championships respectively, but in this case and as in some other Conferences, it is Grand Canyon, still belonging to the Western Athletic Conference, the most winning team with 3 Championships obtained (2021, 2023, 2024).
This is another of the not so well known Conferences that does not have any team that has won the national title.
The 2024 Champion is also Grand Canyon, who also made it in 2023, making it clear that after the departure of the most Conference Champions, as mentioned above, they do not have a contender who has won the championship, so the only team to take into account here are the Antelopes.
- Grand Canyon
- Tarleton State
- UT Arlington
- Seattle U
- Utah Valley
- SFA
- Abilene Christian
- California Baptist
- Utah Tech
- Southern Utah
- UTRGV
As you have seen, there is a lot of ground to cover during the Regular Season, and the choices are so many, that the winner really is the Outstanding College Basketball Player in the USA. Keep an eye on the NCAAB news, rumors and trends to stay up to date with the hoops action.
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