As the 2024-25 men’s college basketball season gets closer to its conclusion, it’s worth considering which player will join recent stars in the sport like Zach Edey of Purdue and Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe as the year-end winner of the Wooden Award.
We’re guaranteed to have a first-time winner in 2025 after Edey took his talents to the NBA. That paves the way for one of the sport’s up-and-coming players, like Cooper Flagg of Duke or Auburn’s Johni Broome, to bring home the hardware.
To assess which CBB player has the best chance of succeeding Edey as the Wooden Award winner, BetCarolina.com – your source for top North Carolina sports betting promos – broke down some hypothetical odds on which star will take home the sport’s top individual honor this spring.
Naismith Player of the Year 2025 Odds
Player | Percentage Chance | Odds |
Cooper Flagg, Duke | 70.6% | -240 |
Johni Broome, Auburn | 38.5% | +160 |
Braden Smith, Purdue | 0.7% | +15000 |
PJ Haggerty, Memphis | 0.3% | +30000 |
Mark Sears, Alabama | 0.2% | +50000 |
Right now, oddsmakers from DraftKings NC Sportsbook have Flagg as the overwhelming favorite to win the honor, coming in at -240 odds, and so do we. Broome is making a late push after leading top-ranked Auburn past No. 2 Alabama in Tuscaloosa in a meeting betwen the top two teams in the Associated Press poll. Broome, a senior from Plant City, Florida and a Tampa Catholic High School graduate, scored 19 for the Tigers in that victory.
Flagg had 17 points and a season-high 14 rebounds for Duke in an 80-62 victory at Virginia on Monday night, extending his streak of double-digit scoring games to 16.
Keep following BetCarolina.com for college basketball coverage in ACC country and around the nation as part of our NC sports betting content.
Can Anyone Catch Flagg?
Not if he keeps playing the way he has of late. The 6-foot-9 freshman forward out of Maine is averaging 19.7 points and 7.7 rebounds a game for Duke (23-3), which is third in the Associated Press poll behind Auburn and Bama.
Duke is 15-1 in the ACC and is the the No. 2 choice to win the national title at BetMGM North Carolina Sportsbook as of Feb. 18, with +425 odds. Auburn is favored at +325.
Behind Flagg and Broome, Purdue's Braden Smith is the next closest contender to win the honor, at +15000 odds. This has become a two-player race and it should belong to Flagg if he stays healthy.
For now, Flagg is looking to become the first Duke player (or Blue Devils freshman) to win the Wooden Award since Zion Williamson during his lone season in Durham in 2019. Check out our Duke basketball odds as the conference season rolls along.
USA Today Network photo by Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch
Author
Christopher Boan is a lead writer at BetCarolina.com specializing in covering state issues. He has covered sports and sports betting in Arizona for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
