Feb. 8, 2017
University of Notre Dame men’s basketball junior forward Bonzie Colson has been named to the Late Season Top 20 list as the 2017 John R. Wooden Award continues to pare down the list of candidates for its player-of-the-year trophy.
Colson, who leads the Atlantic Coast Conference in rebounds per game (10.8) and double-doubles (15) while leading the Fighting Irish in scoring (16.1 points-per-game), is one of two players to appear in the Late Season Top 20 who were not on the Midseason Top 25.
The New Bedford, Massachusetts native is coming off one of the best efforts of the season against Wake Forest on Tuesday, Feb. 7, leading the Irish with 27 points, 16 rebounds and a career-best five blocked shots. Colson has five 20-point, 10-rebound performances this year (second-most in the ACC) and as of February 8, 2017, is 11th in the country in rebounds-per-game.
Colson has helped the Irish post their best start (9-0) and conference start (5-0) of the Mike Brey era so far this season. He also has been named as one of 10 finalists for the 2017 Karl Malone Award for the nation’s top power forward.
Players not on this most recent list are still eligible for the final ballot, which will consist of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and are maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA. Voting begins at the end of the season, and voters, consisting of nearly 1,000 members of the national college basketball media, will take into account the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
Fans can follow the candidates en route to the Wooden Award presentation and get the latest news throughout the season by liking the Wooden Award Facebook page or following @WoodenAward on Twitter and Instagram.
Bonzie Colson leads Notre Dame past Wake forest 88-81 https://t.co/SpCGjjuCIg
– CollegeBasketbllTalk (@CBTonNBC) February 8, 2017
Bonzie Colson is such a warrior in the interior. Waayyy undersize but he’s first in line when it’s time to play bully ball
– CourtCred (@courtcred) January 31, 2017