Indiana Women's Basketball Star Mackenzie Holmes is on the Wooden Top 20 List

On Tuesday, the Wooden Award watchlist was announced. The award is given annually to the most outstanding women's college basketball player. There are the usual suspects on the list. The last two Wooden Award winners, Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark are on the list. Final Four Most Outstanding Player, Angel Reese is also on the list.

In addition to those names, Hoosier forward Mackenzie Holmes is also on the midseason list of 20 players. The All-American leads Indiana in points (20.3), rebounds (7.4), and field goal percentage (67.4%). There is no doubt that Holmes is the catalyst for the success of the Hoosiers this season.

Three freshmen are on the list: Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo, Texas's Madison Booker, and USC's JuJu Watkins. Virginia Tech, LSU, South Carolina, and UConn have multiple candidates on the Wooden list.

A ballot of 15 players will be released later in February. Voters select the ten-player All-American team and the Wooden Player of the Year later in the spring.

Holmes has been the steadying hand for the Hoosiers on offense and defense. She's improved from an All-American 2022-23 season. The Maine native has learned to pass out of the double team and has shown the ability to knock down the face-up mid-range jump shot.

Holmes has been outstanding in her last five games, including a 32-point performance against Minnesota and a double-double against Northwestern (27 points and 11 rebounds). While it will be difficult for her to win the award with the young ladies on this list, she's definitely on her way to an All-Big Ten, All-American season.