November 06, 2006
Texas A&M?â„¢s Morenike Atunrase (Shreveport, La.) was recently named one of the nation?â„¢s top 30 preseason candidates for the prestigious John R. Wooden Women?â„¢s Award.
This is the first time in school history a preseason nomination such as the John R. Wooden Award has been bestowed on a Texas A&M women?â„¢s basketball player. Atunrase, a 5-foot-10 combination junior guard/forward, is one of the top returning players in the Big 12 Conference having been selected to the five-member preseason All-Big 12 Team last month.
?This is a tremendous honor not only for Morenike, but also for our women?â„¢s basketball program,? Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair said. ?When you start looking at the top 30 players in the country, Morenike is a player that has improved her game throughout her college career, compared to players who received notoriety in their high school careers and have maintained that level in college. She is the new kid on the block and has done a tremendous job on her all-around game.?
An All-Big 12 First Team selection a year ago, Atunrase averaged a team-leading 14.0 points and 1.8 blocks per game and led the Aggies to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996. She was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2005.
?Morenike can fill up the right side of a stat sheet with assists, blocks and steals, as well as any player in the country,? Blair said. ?She does the little things for us, not just in scoring average. We are a team that doesn?â„¢t rely on Morenike to score 20 points a night to be effective, because we play a complete game. Our team is about distributing the basketball and sharing the stats on individual scoring. This is not a coming out year for Morenike, because she has already earned the respect from our coaching staff, her teammates and coaches around the Big 12 since day one. To be named to the John R. Wooden Award list is the epitome of what college basketball is all about. This award is such a tremendous honor, because it bears the Wooden name and he has been a great champion and proponent of the women?â„¢s game.?
Created in 1976, the award is the most prestigious individual honor in all of 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 or better grade-point average. The award is voted on annually by national sports writers and broadcasters.
Past winners include such notables as Larry Bird (1979), Michael Jordan (1984) and Tim Duncan (1997). On the women?â„¢s side, Duke?â„¢s Alana Beard was the inaugural winner of the award in 2004 and LSU?â„¢s Seimone Augustus was a two-time recipient in 2005 and 2006.
2006-07 JOHN R. WOODEN WOMEN?â„¢S AWARD PRESEASON TOP 30 CANDIDATES
Matee Ajavon, 5-8, Junior, G, Rutgers
Morenike Atunrase, 5-10, Junior, G/F, Texas A&M
Alison Bales, 6-7, Senior, C, Duke
Marissa Coleman, 6-1, Sophomore, G/F, Maryland
Jessica Davenport, 6-5, Senior, C, Ohio State
Dee Davis, 5-7, Senior, G, Vanderbilt
Jessica Dickson, 5-11, Senior, F, South Florida
Shay Doron, 5-9, Senior, G, Maryland
Sylvia Fowles, 6-6, Junior, C, LSU
Lindsey Harding, 5-8, Senior, G, Duke
Cameo Hicks, 5-10, Senior, G, Washington
Alexis Hornbuckle, 5-11, Junior, G, Tennessee
Charde Houston, 6-1, Junior, F, Connecticut
Tasha Humphrey, 6-3, Junior, F, Georgia
Tye Jackson, 5-10, Junior, F, Houston
Crystal Kelly, 6-3, Junior, F, Western Kentucky
Crystal Langhorne, 6-2, Junior, C/F, Maryland
Erlana Larkins, 6-1, Junior, F, North Carolina
Ivory Latta, 5-6, Senior, G, North Carolina
Camille Little, 6-2, Senior, F/G, North Carolina
Lyndsey Medders, 5-9, Senior, G, Iowa State
Shay Murphy, 5-11, Senior, G, USC
Courtney Paris, 6-4, Sophomore, C, Oklahoma
Candace Parker, 6-4, Sophomore, F/C, Tennessee
Armintie Price, 5-9, Senior, G, Mississippi
Noelle Quinn, 6-0, Senior, G, UCLA
Jillian Robbins, 6-1, Senior, F, Tulsa
Tiffany Jackson, 6-3, Senior, F, Texas
Kia Vaughn, 6-4, Sophomore, C, Rutgers
Candice Wiggins, 5-11, Junior, G, Stanford