Texas Tech University Athletics
Anderson, Toppin on Wooden Award National Ballot
March 07, 2026 | Men's Basketball
LUBBOCK – Only one college basketball program in the nation has two players on the John R. Wooden Award National Ballot. The program: Texas Tech. The players: Christian Anderson and JT Toppin.
The Los Angeles Athletic Club announced its 2026 Men's National Ballot for the John R. Wooden Award® presented by Principal® on Saturday morning, an award selected by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board. The National Ballot consists of 15 student athletes who are candidates for the Wooden Award All America Team and Wooden Award Trophy, recognizing the Most Outstanding College Basketball Player in the United States.
The 2026 Wooden Award Men's National Ballot includes two graduate students, two seniors, two juniors, three sophomores (including one redshirt sophomore), and six freshmen. The ballot represents 14 different universities, with Texas Tech being the only with two. Anderson and Toppin are joined on the prestigious list by Darius Acuff (Arkansas), Cameron Boozer (Duke), AJ Dybansta (BYU), Jeremy Fears (Michigan State), Kingston Flemings (Houston), Thomas Haugh (Florida), Graham Ike (Gonzaga), Joshua Jefferson (Iowa State), Yaxel Lendeborg (Michigan), Labaron Philon (Alabama), Braden Smith (Purdue), Keaton Wagler (Illinois) and Caleb Wilson (North Carolina).
The Wooden Award Men's All America Teams, along with the Men's Top Five finalists for the Wooden Award Trophy, will be announced on Saturday, April 4 during the Men's Final Four on ESPN, building anticipation for the sport's most prestigious individual honor. The Golden Anniversary celebration will culminate on Friday, April 10, 2026, at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. That evening, with the Wooden Award Winners from the Top Five finalists in attendance, the 2026 John R. Wooden Award® presented by Principal® will be announced live at 8 p.m. (CST) during a nationally televised broadcast on ESPNU.
Anderson leads the Big 12 with 7.7 assists per game along with adding 19.1 points per game which ranks fifth in the conference. A three-time Big 12 Player of the Week selection who ranks third nationally in assists in his sophomore season, Anderson has recorded eight double-doubles and has eight games this season with double-figure assists. His lone non-assist double-double came with him recording a career-high 11 rebounds to go along with 31 points in a win over Cincinnati two weeks ago. Anderson comes into tonight's regular-season finale at BYU with 224 total assists which is only two away from matching the program record of 226 by Elijah Hawkins last season and his 97 made 3-pointers has broken the previous Tech record of 94 by Cory Carr (1996-96) and is now only behind teammate Donovan Atwell who has 115 for the Red Raider this season. Anderson is shooting 42.4% on 3-pointers for the season and has 925 points, 301 assists and 168 made 3-pointers through 64 career games. A four-time Big 12 Player of the Week this season, Toppin suffered a season-ending injury after tearing the ACL in his right knee at Arizona State on February 17. At the time of his injury, Toppin was leading the nation with 234 made field goals and was in the top 10 nationally in scoring (21.8), rebounding (10.8) and double-doubles (16). Toppin returned for his junior season after earning 2024-25 Big 12 Player of the Year and Consensus Second Team All-American honors. Through 94 career games, Toppin has 47 double-doubles, 1,593 points, 907 rebounds and 159 blocked shots.
Voting for the 2026 John R. Wooden Award® All America Team presented by Principal® will open on March 16 at 5 p.m. and close on March 28. During that time, voters will evaluate each candidate's complete body of work throughout the season, including performances in the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament, to determine the most outstanding players in college basketball.
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, and last year's recipient Cooper Flagg of Duke.
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