University of Nevada Athletics

LOS ANGELES   Following an exhilarating first half of the college basketball season which included buzzer beaters and an always shifting top ten, the John R. Wooden Award Committee today announced the Wooden Award Midseason All-American Team (see below). Composed of the top 30 players who will compete for this season’s player of the year award, the midseason list is based on individual player performance and team records during the first half of the season.

 

The Midseason list includes 2005-2006 Wooden Award All-American Glen Davis (LSU) who is having another big season averaging 18.2 ppg and 10.4 rpg.  Along with Davis there are two other exceptional players that were in the running for last year’s Wooden Award, Taurean Green (Florida) and Nick Fazekas (Nevada).  Green helped the Gators win a National Championship last year and has Florida on top of the rankings again this season. Fazekas has turned Nevada into a national power with the Wolf Pack owning a 17-2 record.

 

Further, ten newcomers have been selected to the midseason list that were not selected to the preseason list. This group includes Mario Boggan (Oklahoma St.), Aaron Brooks (Oregon), A.J. Graves (Butler), Randolph Morris (Kentucky), Drew Neitzel (Michigan St.), Demetris Nichols (Syracuse), Curtis Sumpter (Villanova), and outstanding freshmen Kevin Durant (Texas), Greg Oden (Ohio St.), and Brandan Wright (North Carolina). 

 

In total, twelve seniors, ten juniors, five sophomores and three freshmen were selected to the midseason list.  Many across the country have called this season “the year of the freshmen.”  These young players have not merely contributed to their respective teams, they have often dominated.  Durant of Texas currently leads the Big 12 Conference in both scoring (23.9 ppg) and rebounding (11.1 rpg).

 

“Perhaps more than any other year, the Midseason Selection Committee had an incredibly difficult task narrowing the list to 30 players,” said Duke Llewellyn, Wooden Award chairman. “10 players that were not on the preseason list, made the midseason list; an incredible number that shows players across the nation stepped up and made a case for themselves. We look forward to watching this group of amazing athletes as we determine the top candidates for the Wooden Award All-American Team.”

 

Nine NCAA conferences are represented on the list, including the ACC, BIG TEN, Big 12, Big East, Conference USA, Pac-10, SEC, Western Athletic Conference and the Horizon League. The best represented conferences include the ACC and SEC with six candidates and the Big 12 and Big East conferences, with five and four candidates, respectively. Two schools have multiple players nominated; they are Florida (Green, Corey Brewer, and Joakim Noah) and North Carolina (Wright and Tyler Hansbrough).

 

Players who do not make the Midseason list are still eligible for the national ballot, which will be selected in March and will consist of approximately 20 players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA.  Over 1000 voters, comprised of sports media members and college basketball experts across the nation, will then cast their votes to determine both the 10-member All-American Team and player of the year recipient.

 

On Tuesday, March 27, the 10-player Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced.  The 2007 Award ceremony, which will include the presentation of the Men’s and Women’s Wooden Award, the Wooden Award All-American Teams, and the Legends of Coaching Award to recipient Gene Keady of Purdue University, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on April 7, 2007.  The top five male and female finalists will be invited to Los Angeles for the awards ceremony and will receive a contribution from The Los Angeles Athletic Club for their university’s general scholarship fund.

 

About the John R. Wooden Award

Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball.  It is bestowed upon the nation’s best player at an institution of higher education who has proven to his or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA.  Previous winners include such notables as Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97), Andrew Bogut (’05), and last year’s recipients, Seimone Augustus (’06) and J.J. Redick.

 

Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed close to a million dollars to universities’ general scholarship fund in the names of the All-American recipients as well as sent over 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps in the awards name.   Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament.  The day-long tournament, which brings together Special Olympic athletes and the All-American selections, takes place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on the Friday prior to the John R. Wooden Award Ceremony.

 

For more information on the John R. Wooden Award, please contact 310-578-7050 or via email at dianella@formulapr.com, or visit www.WoodenAward.com.

 

#

 

Wooden Award Midseason

All-American Team Top 30 Candidates

(Players listed alphabetically. * Indicates player was a 2005-2006 All-American)