Tag: Marques Johnson

Jalen Pickett among 15 Wooden Award Finalists

Here is a look at all 15 finalists for this season’s Wooden Award in men’s college basketball.

Penn State senior guard [autotag]Jalen Pickett[/autotag] is having one of the best seasons in program history.

During a victory against Illinois, he set the Bryce Jordan Center record for most points in a game with 41. He set the all-time single-season record for most assists in a season, breaking Tim Frazier’s record of 198. Pickett also will set the most assists per game record and surpassed 2,000 career points.

It’s been a phenomenal season for the senior out of Rochester, NY.

Head coach, [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag], has been pounding the table for more eyes across the country to notice how well Pickett has been playing this year.

It seems like that message got through because Pickett is one of the 15 finalists for the Wooden Award. This award, named after legendary coach [autotag]John Wooden[/autotag], goes to the Player of the Year in both men’s and women’s basketball.

The award is voted on by 1,000 sports writers and media professionals across the country. The top 10 will be named All-Americans, with the player receiving the most votes winning the Wooden Award.

It’s a highly coveted award that some of the biggest names in the sports have won. The first award was given to [autotag]Marques Johnson[/autotag] of UCLA in the 1976-77 season.

Here are the 15 finalists for 2022-23.

Marques Johnson proves he can still dunk at 66 and jokingly calls out Cole Anthony while doing it

Cole world.

For several years now, former Milwaukee Bucks star Marques Johnson has posted a video on Twitter around the time of his February birthday to show he can still dunk a basketball. 

Now 66 years old, Johnson kept the tradition alive Monday by throwing one down while sporting a Giannis Antetokounmpo jersey.

He nearly completed the look with a pair of “butter” Timberland boots but thought better of it after seeing Orlando Magic guard Cole Anthony’s performance in the slam dunk contest. 

“I was going to rock the butters, but I didn’t want to choke them up too tight and disrespect New York like that,” the five-time All-Star said before tossing the boots.

For those who missed the dunk contest (you didn’t miss much), Anthony completed a dunk in Timberlands in honor of his dad Greg Anthony, a former first-round pick of the New York Knicks.

Timbs are a staple in urban New York shoe culture, but the heavy boots aren’t normally worn as tight as Anthony had to tie them to jump. The moment was also a little anticlimactic after he failed to complete it the first couple of tries.

Even without the Timbs, Johnson’s dunk at his age is still more impressive than some of the dunks we saw in the actual dunk contest.

He dedicated it to his late mother Madea.

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