UNC Basketball: Joel Berry II named to Wooden Award watch list

North Carolina point guard named to Wooden Award watch list

North Carolina Tar Heels senior point guard Joel Berry II has been named to the John R. Wooden Award preseason watch list. Berry is among 50 preseason candidates nominated for the award, which is given annually to college basketball’s National Player of the Year.

The recipient of the award doesn’t have to be named to the preseason watch list, but those included are considered front-runners for the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball.

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Berry is the reigning Final Four Most Outstanding Player and should be the focal point of a Tar Heels team that lost much of the nucleus responsible for the school’s national championship victory in April.

Berry missed the team’s first game of the season after sustaining an unfortunate and unlikely injury after a heated game of NBA 2K. However, North Carolina head coach Roy Williams said that Berry is close to a return, and could possibly see game action on Wednesday night against Bucknell.

As a junior, he averaged 14.7 points, 3.6 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game. He shot better than 38 percent from three-point range and connected on 77.4 percent of his free throw attempts.

Berry has already been named to a number of preseason honors including several preseason All-American teams and the Bob Cousy Award watch list.

The John R. Wooden Award will be presented during the ESPN College Basketball Awards on Friday, April 6, 2018.

Below is the entire list of 50 players included on the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top-50.