November 06, 2006
Texas A&M's Acie Law IV and Joseph Jones are among the top 50 preseason candidates for the 2007 John R. Wooden Award All-American Team, the National Preseason Selection Committee announced.
A&M is one of just nine schools to have two or more players nominated. The list is composed of 50 student athletes who, based on last year's individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college basketball's most coveted trophy.
These candidates are comprised of returning players, although transfers, freshmen, medical redshirts and other players who excel throughout the season will be evaluated and considered for both the Midseason top 30 list and the National Ballot. Players not on the preseason list are eligible for the midseason top 30 and ballot.
Candidates have been selected from 15 NCAA conferences, up from 11 last year. Conferences include the ACC (eight players), the Big 12 (eight players), the Pac-10 (seven players), the Big East (seven players), the SEC (six players), the Big 10 (four players), the Mountain West (two players), the Atlantic 10 (one player), the Conf. USA (one player), the Western Athletic (one player), the Mid Continent (one player), the Sun Belt (one player), the Horizon League (one player), the Colonial Athletic Association (one player), and the Big Sky (one player).
In January, the Wooden Award committee will release the midseason top 30 followed by the national ballot in early March. 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.
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 Preseason
All-American Team - Top 50 Candidates
(Based on a preseason poll. Players listed alphabetically.)
Name Ht. Cl. Pos. School
Arron Afflalo 6'5" Jr. G UCLA
De'Angelo Alexander 6'6" Sr. G Charlotte
Morris Almond 6'6" Sr. G Rice
Corey Brewer 6'9" Jr. F Florida
Jon Brockman 6'7" So. F Washington
Jamar Butler 6'2' Jr. G Ohio State
Coleman Collins 6'9" Sr. F Virginia Tech
JamesOn Curry 6'3" Jr. G Oklahoma State
Jermareo Davidson 6'10" Sr. F Alabama
Glen Davis* 6'9" Jr. F LSU
Jared Dudley 6'7" Sr. F Boston College
Nick Fazekas 6'11" Sr. F Nevada
Aaron Gray 7'0" Sr. C Pittsburgh
Jeff Green 6'9" Jr. F Georgetown
Caleb Green 6'8" Sr. F Oral Roberts
Malik Hairston 6'6" Jr. G Oregon
Adam Haluska 6'5" Sr. G Iowa
Lamont Hamilton 6'10 Jr. F St. John's
Tyler Hansbrough 6'9" So. F North Carolina
Brandon Heath 6'4" Sr. G San Diego State
Roy Hibbert 7'2" Jr. C Georgetown
Al Horford 6'10" Jr. F/C Florida
Jarrius Jackson 6'2" Sr. G Texas Tech
Dominic James 5'11" So. G Marquette
Joseph Jones 6'9" Jr. F/C Texas A&M
Acie Law 6'3" Sr. G Texas A&M
Courtney Lee 6'5" Jr. G/F Western Kentucky
Chris Lofton 6'2" Jr. G Tennessee
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute 6'7" So. F UCLA
Josh McRoberts 6'10" So. F Duke
Sammy Mejia 6'6" Sr. G DePaul
Joakim Noah 6'11" Jr. F/C Florida
David Padgett 6'11" Jr. F/C Louisville
Brian Randle 6'8" Jr. F Illinois
Richard Roby 6'6" Jr. G Colorado
Brandon Rush 6'6" So. G Kansas
Blake Schilb 6'7" Sr. G Loyola (Chicago)
Mustafa Shakur 6'3" Sr. G Arizona
Sean Singletary 6'0" Jr. G Virginia
Jason Smith 7'0" Jr. F Colorado State
Ronald Steele 6'3" Jr. G Alabama
Loren Stokes 6'3" Sr. G Hofstra
Rodney Stuckey 6'5" So. G Eastern Washington
Kammron Taylor 6'2" Sr. G Wisconsin
Reyshawn Terry 6'8" Sr. F North Carolina
Al Thornton 6'8" Sr. F Florida State
Alando Tucker 6'6" Sr. F Wisconsin
Ayinde Ubaka 6'4" Sr. G California
Marcus Williams 6'7" So. F Arizona
Julian Wright 6'8" So. F Kansas
* Indicates player was a 2005-2006 John R. Wooden Award All-American.