CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Two University of Miami men’s basketball players are on the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 Watch List, as announced Tuesday afternoon on ESPN.
Guards Nijel Pack and Isaiah Wong are both among the 50 selections from players across the nation at the Division I level. Each of them also previously made the Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Watch List.
Miami is one of only 10 schools with multiple players on the list, joining Baylor, Creighton, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Texas and UCLA. The ACC leads all leagues with 10 players in the group.
Pack recorded 17.4 points per game last year at Kansas State, shooting 45.5 percent overall, 43.6 on 3-pointers and 84.5 percent at the stripe. He garnered First Team All-Big 12 and Big 12 Most Improved Player plaudits in his final year with the Wildcats.
A 6-foot, 184-pounder from Indianapolis, Pack scored 30-plus points three times in 2021-22, including 35 against the eventual NCAA champion, Kansas. Through two games with the Hurricanes this season, Pack is averaging 15.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 turnover per game.