Men’s Basketball’s Abmas named to Wooden Award preseason Top 50 watch list

LOS ANGELES — University of Texas Men's Basketball graduate Max Abmas is one of 50 preseason watch list candidates for the John R. Wooden Award presented by Principal, it was announced Tuesday. 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.

Abmas was previously named a preseason second-team All-America selection by FOX Sports and The Almanac (Field of 68) and a preseason third-team All-America honoree by CBS Sports and The Sporting News. In addition, he is one of 20 players on the preseason watch list for both the NABC Division I Player of the Year and the Bob Cousy Award (nation's top point guard) and one of 50 players on the preseason watch list for the Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Men's Player of the Year. Abmas was also tabbed to the five-person Preseason All-Big 12 Team.

Abmas is the NCAA Division I active career scoring leader (2,593 points). He has played and started 125 career games and registered 2,593 points, 404 assists, 415 rebounds and 141 steals over the last five seasons at Oral Roberts and Texas. Abmas was a three-time honorable mention All-America selection (The Associated Press) and twice named Summit League Player of the Year (2021 and 2023). As a senior in 2022-23 at Oral Roberts, he averaged 21.9 ppg, 4.0 apg and 4.4 rpg in 36.0 mpg and ranked ninth in Division I in scoring and fifth in free throw percentage (.919). As a sophomore in 2020-21, Abmas guided Oral Roberts to the NCAA Sweet 16 while leading Division I in scoring (24.5 ppg) and ranking second nationally in three-point field goals made per game (3.6). He earned his BS in Mathematics from ORU in Spring 2023 and is pursuing a graduate certificate in Strategic Communication.

In his first two games at Texas, Abmas leads the team in minutes (32.5 mpg) and ranks second in scoring (15.5 ppg) and assists (4.0 apg) while hitting 50-percent (11-22) from the floor, including a 50-percent mark (6-12) from three-point range. He had a team-high 19 points (6-12 FG, 4-8 threes, 3-3 FT) and five assists in 35 minutes in Friday's home win against Delaware State (Nov. 10).

No. 19/17 Texas (2-0) returns to the court with a home game against Rice on Wednesday, Nov. 15. Tip is set for 8 p.m. Central at Moody Center, and the contest will be televised by Longhorn Network.

John R. Wooden Award presented by Principal Preseason Top 50 Watch List

Player	School
Max Abmas	TEXAS
Trey Alexander	Creighton
Armando Bacot	North Carolina
Oumar Ballo	Arizona
Reece Beekman	Virginia
Adem Bona	UCLA
Johni Broome	Auburn
Boo Buie	Northwestern
Donovan Clingan	UConn
Isaiah Collier	USC
LJ Cryer	Houston
Tristan da Silva	Colorado
N'Faly Dante	Oregon
Johnell Davis	FAU
RJ Davis	North Carolina
Tucker DeVries	Drake
Hunter Dickinson	Kansas
Zach Edey	Purdue
Justin Edwards	Kentucky
Boogie Ellis	USC
Kyle Filipowski	Duke
PJ Hall	Clemson
Dajuan Harris Jr.	Kansas
DaRon Holmes II	Dayton
Bryce Hopkins	Providence
Graham Ike	Gonzaga
Kam Jones	Marquette
Ryan Kalkbrenner	Creighton
Tyler Kolek	Marquette
Aidan Mahaney	Saint Mary's
Kevin McCullar Jr.	Kansas
Judah Mintz	Syracuse
Justin Moore	Villanova
Ryan Nembhard	Gonzaga
Tristen Newton	UConn
Norchad Omier	Miami
Nijel Pack	Miami
Tyrese Proctor	Duke
Jeremy Roach	Duke
Baylor Scheierman	Creighton
Terrence Shannon Jr.	Illinois
Jamal Shead	Houston
Tolu Smith	Mississippi State
Joel Soriano	St. John's
Isaiah Stevens	Colorado State
Wade Taylor IV	Texas A&M
Santiago Vescovi	Tennessee
Tyson Walker	Michigan State
Ja'Kobe Walter	Baylor
Jahmir Young	Maryland

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics

Men’s Basketball’s Abmas named to Wooden Award preseason Top 50 watch list

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Max Abmas