Image Credit: Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images

Cooper Flagg or Johni Broome – Who is leading the race for National Player of the Year ahead of March Madness?

The battle for the 2025 Wooden award is between Cooper Flagg of the Duke Blue Devils and Johni Broome of the Auburn Tigers.

Image Credit: Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images

The John R. Wooden Award, given to the best player on and off the field in the entire nation. The award also takes academics into consideration and players’ behavior off the field. The battle for the 2025 Wooden award is between Cooper Flagg of the Duke Blue Devils and Johni Broome of the Auburn Tigers, according to the odds.

Category (per game)	Cooper Flagg	Johni Broome
Points	19.6	18.0
Rebounds	7.5	10.7
Assists	4.2	3.3
Steals	1.6	0.8
Blocks	1.2	2.4
Field-goal%	49.7%	50.4%
Free-throw%	82.8%	62.3%
Double-Double	7	17
Team record	27-3	27-3

Data up to March 6

As a freshman, Cooper Flagg has exceeded the expectations and led Duke to a 27-3 record. He leads the team in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks per game. The Duke star has the chance to lead the Blue Devils to the third best conference record in their history with a win against arch-rivals, North Carolina.

In ACC conference, Flagg is the only player to be top-10 in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks per game. According to basketball reference, Flagg also leads the conference in multiple advanced stats. Such as player efficiency rating, offensive and defensive win shares, box plus/minus and defensive rating.

Cooper Flagg’s main rival has been Johni Broome of the Auburn Tigers. The fifth-year senior has led the Tigers to a number-one seed and a 27-3 record. He leads the team in points, rebounds, assists and blocks per game. The star center has led the team to a historic season. The Tigers have a chance to finish with the best SEC conference record in their history with a win against Alabama.

In SEC conference, Broome leads in rebounds and blocks per game. He is also fourth in points per game and 14th in assists per game. According to basketball reference, Broome also leads the conference in multiple advanced stats. Such as player efficiency rating, offensive and defensive win shares and box plus/minus.

Odds for the 2025 Wooden award

Pre-season, Hunter Dickinson (+667) and RJ Davis (+692) were seen as the early favorites for the award. However, as the season progressed, Cooper Flagg and Johni Broome have emerged as the contenders.

Cooper Flagg started with +900 odds and Broome was +1633 odds to win the award, according to SBD.

Player	Odds
Cooper Flagg	-140
Johni Broome	+110

According to Draftkings, Cooper Flagg is a -140 favorite for the Wooden award. His odds went as low as -976 on January 27th, according to SBD. On the other hand, Johni Broome is +110 favorite to win the Wooden Award, according to DraftKings. A lot rely on the final matchup as Duke faces North Carolina and Auburn faces Alabama.

Cooper Flagg

Johni Broome

March Madness

Suryansh Kumar

NBA/WNBA Writer

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Hello, my name is Suryansh, and I write NBA/WNBA content for ThePlayoffs. I love sports, which is why I write and I love the NBA because of the stats. My aim is to find unique stats and perspectives to provide my readers with another angle on sports.