Gonzaga’s Rui Hachimura, Brandon Clarke among 15 candidates for Wooden Award

Gonzaga’s Brandon Clarke and Rui Hachimura joined 13 others on the ballot for the Wooden Award Trophy for college basketball’s most outstanding player and the Wooden Award All-American team.

Gonzaga and Duke are the only schools with a pair of candidates. The Blue Devils are represented by freshmen RJ Barrett and Zion Williamson. The latter has been the favorite for player of the year honors, but he’s been sidelined since Feb. 20 with a knee injury.

Clarke makes his debut for Wooden Award consideration, while Hachumura was on Wooden preseason and midseason watch lists.

Clarke, voted the West Coast Conference’s Defender and Newcomer of the Year, is second nationally with 99 blocks, a single-season Gonzaga record. The transfer from San Jose State swatted six shots in an 89-87 victory over Duke in the Maui Invitational championship game.

Clarke averages 16.6 points and a team-leading 8.5 rebounds. He’s No. 1 nationally in field-goal shooting percentage (68.8) with Williamson second at 68.3.

Hachimura, named the WCC Player of the Year, paces Gonzaga at 20.6 points and ranks second in rebounding at 6.7. He’s made 61.3 percent of his shots, including 46.7 beyond the 3-point line.

Hachimura has scored at least 20 points in 19 games, with a career-high 33 in the season opener against Idaho State.

Other finalists are Texas Tech’s Jarrett Culver, South Dakota State’s Mike Daum, Purdue’s Carsen Edwards, Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ, Marquette’s Markus Howard, Virginia’s De’Andre Hunter, Kansas’ Dedric Lawson, Murray State’s Ja Morant, Kentucky’s PJ Washington, Tennessee’s Grant Williams and Michigan State’s Cassius Winston.

The Wooden Award All-American Team, consisting of the nation’s top 10 players, and the five finalists for the Wooden Award will be announced following the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament.

Voting for 1,000 media members takes place from March 18-25. Fans may vote at woodenawardvote.com.