Wooden Award betting odds: Gonzaga trio among favorites for 2024-25 college basketball honor

Khalif Battle, Ryan Nembhard and Graham Ike are among the top 20 players with the best odds to win the Wooden Award

Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

With the 2024-25 college basketball season just over two months away, major U.S. sportsbooks have started to release their preseason betting odds for the Wooden Award. 

According to odds from BetOnline.com that were released earlier this week, three seniors from the Gonzaga men’s basketball team are listed at 45-1 or better odds to win the honor. Leading the pack is Arkansas grad transfer Khalif Battle, who’s currently receiving 33-1 odds (+3300). That’s tied with Auburn’s Johni Broome and Baylor freshman VJ Edgecombe for the eighth-shortest odds for any player.

Ryan Nembhard is tied with a slew of players at 40-1 odds (+4000) followed by Graham Ike at 45-1 (+4500). 

Duke’s heralded freshman Cooper Flagg is currently the favorite to win the Wooden Award at 4-1 odds (+400). Only three freshmen have ever taken home the prestigious award, and the list is quite notable: Kevin Durant (2007), Anthony Davis (2012) and Zion Williamson (2019).

Here are the players with the shortest odds to win the 2024-25 Wooden Award, according to BetOnline:

Cooper Flagg (Duke): 4/1 (+400)

Hunter Dickinson (Kansas): 5/1 (+500)

RJ Davis (North Carolina): 6/1 (+600)

Mark Sears (Alabama): 8/1 (+800)

AJ Storr (Kansas): 16/1 (+1600)

LJ Cryer (Houston): 20/1 (+2000)

Johnell Davis (Arkansas): 28/1 (+2800)

Johni Broome (Auburn): 33/1 (+3300)

Khalif Battle (Gonzaga): 33/1 (+3300)

VJ Edgecombe (Baylor): 33/1 (+3300)

Ace Bailey (Rutgers): 40/1 (+4000)

Caleb Love (Arizona): 40/1 (+4000)

Dylan Harper (Rutgers): 40/1 (+4000)

Liam McNeeley (UConn): 40/1 (+4000)

Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton): 40/1 (+4000)

Ryan Nembhard (Gonzaga): 40/1 (+4000)

Tyrese Proctor (Duke): 40/1 (+4000)

Zeke Mayo (Kansas): 40/1 (+4000)

Graham Ike (Gonzaga): 45/1 (+4500)

Grant Nelson (Alabama): 45/1 (+4500)

Tamin Lipsey (lowa State): 45/1 (+4500)

Coleman Hawkins (Kansas State): 50/1 (+5000)

Hunter Sallis (Wake Forest): 50/1 (+5000)

Aidan Mahaney (UConn): 66/1 (+6600)

Battle had an electric end to the 2023-24 season with the Razorbacks, as he averaged 29.6 points over his final seven games. The 6-foot-5 guard was second in the SEC with 186 free-throw attempts (Ike led Gonzaga with 134 last season) and has shot 35.3% from downtown over his five-year college career. 

Nembhard and Ike — two coveted transfers in the 2023 offseason — were All-WCC selections and figure to take home a collection of preseason accolades heading into their respective senior seasons. Ike became the sixth player in West Coast Conference history to lead the league in both points (18.4 per game) and field goal percentage (64.0%) in conference games and had a stretch of seven consecutive games with 20 or more points. Nembhard had a historic season in his own right, as he set the program record for most assists in a single season and was top 10 in the country with 6.9 assists per game.

Gonzaga could see up to four Wooden Award contenders during nonleague play. The Bulldogs will reportedly play Edgecombe and the Bears at some point in the first week of the season; Love and the Wildcats are on the opposite of the Battle 4 Atlantis bracket, which sets up a potential matchup in the championship or consolation game. The Zags head to Madison Square Garden on Dec. 14 to face the Huskies featuring Mahaney and McNeely.