Last year, Ohio State post man Jared Sullinger earned All-American status and other accolades, including the Wayman Tisdale Award that is bestowed upon the nation’s best freshman in men’s college basketball.

After a couple early setbacks this season with back and foot injuries, Sullinger is back to his dominant self, as evidenced by his 24-point, 10-rebound effort in a win at Wisconsin Saturday that earned him mention as the Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week.

Soon after the Big Ten announced that honor on Monday, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association unveiled its Midseason Watch List for the 2012 Oscar Robertson Trophy. The award, named after the former University of Cincinnati and NBA standout, is given to the national player of the year on March 30 in New Orleans and Sullinger appears to be in strong contention.

He was one of just 20 players on the Midseason list, which is compiled by members of the association’s board of directors. Other noteworthy candidates include the North Carolina trio of Harrison Barnes, John Henson and Tyler Zeller as well as Kentucky freshmen Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. The list also includes dynamic Kansas forward Thomas Robinson and Indiana freshman center Cody Zeller, Tyler’s younger brother.

Sullinger is the leading scorer (17.4 points per game) and rebounder (9.1 rpg) on a Buckeyes team that is 20-3 overall and atop the Big Ten standings at 8-2. Ohio State next hosts Purdue on Tuesday night (9 p.m. Eastern, ESPN).

Following is the complete watch list:

2012 OSCAR ROBERTSON TROPHY MIDSEASON WATCH LIST
F Harrison Barnes, North Carolina (6-8, 215, So., Ames, Iowa)
G Isaiah Canaan, Murray State (6-0, 193, Jr., Biloxi, Miss.)
F Anthony Davis, Kentucky (6-10, 220, Fr., Chicago)
G Marcus Denmon, Missouri (6-3, 185, Sr., Kansas City, Mo.)
F Draymond Green, Michigan State (6-7, 230, Sr., Saginaw, Mich.)
F John Henson, North Carolina (6-11, 220, Jr., Tampa, Fla.)
G John Jenkins, Vanderbilt (6-4, 220, Jr., Hendersonville, Tenn.)
F Kevin Jones, West Virginia (6-8, 260, Sr., Mount Vernon, N.Y.)
F Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky (6-7, 232, Fr., Somerdale, N.J.)
G/F Jeremy Lamb, Connecticut (6-5, 180, So., Norcross, Ga.)
F Perry Jones III, Baylor (6-11, 235, So., Duncanville, Texas)
G Damian Lillard, Weber State (6-3, 195, Jr., Oakland, Calif.)
F Doug McDermott, Creighton (6-7, 220, So., Ames, Iowa)
F Mike Moser, UNLV (6-8, 210, So., Portland, Ore.)
F Arnett Moultrie, Mississippi State (6-11, 249, Jr., Memphis, Tenn.)
F Thomas Robinson, Kansas (6-10, 230, Jr., Washington, D.C.)
F Mike Scott, Virginia (6-8, 237, Sr., Chesapeake, Va.)
F Jared Sullinger, Ohio State (6-9, 280, So., Columbus)
F Cody Zeller, Indiana (6-11, 230, Fr., Washington, Ind.)
C Tyler Zeller, North Carolina (7-0, 250, Sr., Washington, Ind.)

By conference: ACC (4), SEC (4), Big Ten (3), Big 12 (3), Big East (2), Big Sky (1), Missouri Valley (1), Mountain West (1), Ohio Valley (1).
By class: seniors (5), juniors (6), sophomores (6), freshmen (3).