LOS ANGELES, Calif. – BYU’s Richie Saunders and AJ Dybantsa were named to the 2025-26 Wooden Award Men’s Preseason Top 50 Wachlist, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced on Tuesday afternoon.
Selected by a preseason poll of national college basketball experts, the list comprises 50 student-athletes who are frontrunners for the most prestigious honors in college basketball: the Wooden Award All-American Team and the Wooden Award Most Outstanding Player.
Saunders enters Friday’s Top-25 showdown against No. 23 Wisconsin having scored in 16 straight games dating back to last season’s run to the Sweet 16. He is averaging 19.5 points per game so far this season, shooting 49.1 percent from the field, 34.6 percent from three and 81.0 percent from the free-throw line. He also has a team-high eight steals including a career-high four in BYU’s win over Holy Cross in the home opener.
The senior from Riverton scored a season-high 26 points in the Cougars' comeback victory over Delaware on Nov. 11. After missing all three of his 3-point attempts in the first half, Saunders went 6-of-8 from beyond the arc after halftime to tie a career-high and become the first player in program history with six 3-pointers in a second half.
Four games into his collegiate career, Dybantsa is averaging a team-high 20.3 points per game while shooting 57.4 percent from the field, 40.0 percent from three and 65.2 percent from the free-throw line. He is also pulling down a team-high 6.8 rebounds per game.
In his return to Boston, the 6-foot-9 forward scored 21 of his 25 points in the second half as the Cougars erased a 20-point second half deficit before falling to No. 3 UConn 86-82 at TD Garden. He went 8-of-14 from the field, 2-of-3 from three and 7-of-10 from the free throw line with six rebounds and two steals.
About the John R. Wooden Award
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award Program hosts the most prestigious honors in college basketball, recognizing the Wooden Award Most Outstanding Player for men and women, the Wooden Award All-America Teams for men and women, and the annual selection of the Wooden Award Legends of Coaching recipient.
Honorees are certified by their universities as meeting Wooden Award standards established by Coach Wooden, including progress toward graduation and at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA. Past winners include Larry Bird 1979, Michael Jordan 1984, Tim Duncan 1997, Kevin Durant 2007, Candace Parker 2007 and 2008, Maya Moore 2009 and 2011, Chiney Ogwumike 2014, and last year's recipients Juju Watkins of USC and Cooper Flagg of Duke.
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed nearly one million dollars to universities’ general scholarship funds and nonprofit enterprises in the names of the Wooden Award All-American recipients and has sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps.
The John R. Wooden Award partners with Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long event brings together Special Olympics athletes, Wooden Award All-Americans, and attending coaches. It is hosted at the Los Angeles Athletic Club during John R. Wooden Award Weekend.
The mission of the John R. Wooden Award Foundation (JRWAF) is to promote teamwork, academic excellence and character development, reflecting the enduring values of John R. Wooden. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the JRWAF serves as an angel organization, independently guiding the funding of educational, athletic, and philanthropic initiatives. A dedicated board of doctors leads the Foundation’s efforts, committed to advancing John R. Wooden’s legacy and the timeless principles of his Pyramid of Success.
The Legends of Coaching Award will be presented alongside the Wooden Award Men’s and Women’s Players of the Year on Friday, April 10, 2026, at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.