Creighton’s Doug McDermott is the heavy favorite to win Player of the Year honors in college basketball this season, but Connecticut’s Shabazz Napier and Andrew Wiggins of Kansas were among the finalists named to the John R. Wooden Award Ballot on Saturday.
Wiggins is one of four freshmen on the ballot. Syracuse’s Tyler Ennis, Duke’s Jabari Parker and Kentucky’s Julius Randle are the others. Wiggins is the only player from the Big 12 Conference on the list.
Napier is one of three players from the first-year American Athletic Conference. Cincinnati’s Sean Kilpatrick and Louisville’s Russ Smith are the others. McDermott is the only representative from the Big East Conference.
Here is today’s press release and the full list of candidates:
| Los Angeles (March 8, 2014)— The John R. Wooden Award Ballot was announced today by The Los Angeles Athletic Club on ESPN College GameDay. Selected by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board, the ballot is made up of 15 student-athletes who are the eligible for college basketball’s most prestigious honor. All balloted players have proven to their universities that they are making progress toward graduation and are maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA.The Wooden Award All American Team, consisting of the nation’s top 10 players, will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament after voting by nearly 1,000 media members from March 12 through 24 and through the Fan Voting site sponsored by Wendy’s. The John R. Wooden Award Player of the Year presented by Wendy’s will be announced on ESPN during the Final Four Weekend in Dallas, Texas. The 38th annual Wooden Award Gala presented by Wendy’s will honor the male and female Wooden Award winners, and will include the presentation of the Wooden Award All American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, this year given to Stanford Head Women’s Basketball Coach Tara VanDerveer. The Gala will take place the weekend of April 11-12, 2014 at The Los Angeles Athletic Club.Creighton senior forward Doug McDermott, a Wooden Award All American in 2012 and 2013, looks to become the first three-time selection on the men’s side since North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough (2007-09). McDermott is the nation’s leading scorer at 26.0 ppg (through March 2) and adds 7.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. He is the only returning Wooden All American this season and now ranks among the all-time top 10 scorers in Division I history, edging closer to the 3,000-career total point plateau as the regular season winds down.
Tyler Ennis of Syracuse, Jabari Parker of Duke, Julius Randle of Kentucky, and Andrew Wiggins of Kansas made the ballot as freshmen. Syracuse (Ennis, C.J. Fair) is the only school with two players named to the ballot. Three players were selected to the ballot who were not on the Midseason Top 25, all of whom do a little bit of everything for their teams: Michigan State guard Gary Harris, who averages 17.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists; Cincinnati senior Sean Kilpatrick (20.3 ppg), who has taken his team to a No. 15 ranking by leading the Bearcats in scoring in 25 of their 30 games; and Michigan guard Nik Stauskas (17.1 ppg, 3.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists), one of the nation’s top three-point shooters. The ACC and The American lead the way in terms of conferences, with three selections. The Pac-12, SEC and Big Ten each have two, followed by the Big East, Missouri Valley, and Big 12 each with one player named to the ballot. About the John R. Wooden AwardCreated 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 minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include such notables as Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97), Candace Parker (’07 and ’08), Kevin Durant (’09) and Maya Moore of Connecticut (’09 and ‘11). Michigan’s Trey Burke won the 2013 Wooden Award presented by Wendy’s. 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. The Award has also sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps in the Award’s 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 Americans, takes place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club the weekend of the John R. Wooden Award Ceremony. Follow the candidates and get the latest news throughout the season by logging on to www.WoodenAward.com, following us on Twitter (@WoodenAward), or going to the Wooden Award facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/WoodenAward. For more information on the John R. Wooden Award, please contact the Wooden Award staff at 213-630-5231 or via email at woodenaward@laac.net. # # # |
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2013-14 John R. Wooden Award®
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