Senior All-America candidate(Trenton, N.J.) of the Seton Hall men's basketball team has been named to the John R. Wooden Award® Presented by Wendy's® Men's Late Season Top 20 Watch List, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced Monday night. Chosen by a poll of national college basketball experts based on their performances during the first half of the 2019-20 season, the list is comprised of 20 student-athletes who are currently the front-runners for the sport's most prestigious honor and the John R. Wooden Award All American Team®.The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2020 John R. Wooden Award Men's Player of the Year presented by Wendy's. Players not appearing on this list are still eligible for the National Ballot, which will be announced in early March. The National Ballot consists of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the Wooden Award. Nearly 1,000 voters will rank in order 10 of those 15 players when voting opens prior to the NCAA Tournament and will allow voters to take into consideration performance during early round games. The Wooden Award All American Team™ will be announced the week of the "Elite Eight" round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the 2020 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Wendy's during the ESPN College Basketball Awards on Friday, April 10, 2020.Powell, who appeared on the Wooden's Preseason Top 50 list and the Midseason Top 25 list, is a leading candidate for all major national awards this season as he leads the No. 12-ranked Pirates to one of the best seasons in program history so far. He is averaging 21.4 points per game this season, a figure that is 10th best in the nation and second in the BIG EAST Conference. In addition to being a scoring machine, he has exhibited an incredible amount of unselfishness and leadership in getting this Pirates squad to a 16-5 start to the season and an 8-1 BIG EAST record that is good for first place in the conference through half of the schedule.Powell in particular has shown a penchant for coming up big in huge games. He is averaging 32.7 points per game against nationally ranked opponents, and he is averaging 22.9 points in true road games.Powell is on the verge of closing out his Seton Hall career by putting his name all over the record books. He became only the fifth Pirate ever to score 2,000 career points, and he is now fourth all-time in program history with 2,069. He also is second all-time in three-pointers made (323), eighth in field goals made (674), 14th in free throws made (398), ninth in free throw percentage (.812) and 14th in steals (157).Powell and the Pirates next play on Wednesday at Georgetown at 8:30 p.m.

John R. Wooden Award Presented By Wendy's 2019-20 Men's Late Season Top 20 Watch List