Valparaiso University senior forward Alec Peters (Washington, Ill./Washington) has earned a spot among the Midseason Top 25 candidates for the 2017 John R. Wooden Award, presented to the nation’s most outstanding basketball player.

Chosen by a poll of national college basketball experts, the midseason list is comprised of 25 student-athletes who are front-runners for the sport’s most prestigious honor, based on their performances during the first half of the 2016-17 season.

Peters earned his spot on the midseason list following a stellar first half to his senior season. He currently ranks second nationally in scoring, averaging 24.2 points per game, and is also 19th nationally in rebounding, averaging 10.4 boards per game. He has scored 20 or more points in 13 of Valpo’s first 16 games and has registered 10 double-doubles, sixth-most in the nation. Peters also ranks among the top-10 in the nation in both field goals and free throws made, and is 15th in free throw percentage.

The leading candidates will be further pared to 20 top players in early February. Fifteen top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA will be submitted to voters on the Final Ballot prior to the NCAA Tournament. The ten-man Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced the week of the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament, while the 41^st annual presentation of the John R. Wooden Award to the nation’s most outstanding basketball player will be the anchor presentation of the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show presented by Wendy’s on ESPN2 on Apr. 7.