John R. Wooden Award 2010-2011 Midseason Top 30 Candidates

Seniors Dominate List, Led by Singler, Fredette

Los Angeles (January 6, 2011)— The John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 30 was announced today by The Los Angeles Athletic Club. Selected by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board, the list is made up of 30 student-athletes who, based on their performances in November and December, are the early frontrunners for college basketball’s most prestigious honor. The Women’s midseason list will be released early next week.

Returning players from past Wooden Award ballots include a pair of seniors: Duke’s Kyle Singler (2009, 2010) and BYU’s Jimmer Fredette (2010). Singler was the MVP of the 2010 Final Four and is averaging 17.5 points and 5.8 rebounds in 2010-11 for the undefeated Blue Devils; Fredette was an All-Mountain West Conference player as a junior and so far this year posts a 24.1 ppg scoring average.

Transfers, freshmen and medical redshirts are eligible for this midseason list but did not appear on the preseason Top 50. All players nationally who excel throughout the season will be evaluated and considered for the official voting ballot released in March. The National Ballot consists of approximately 20 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA. The Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round during the NCAA Tournament, making it unique among college postseason awards.

The Big 10 and Big 12 conferences boast the largest number of players chosen to the list, with six each. Other conferences with multiple players represented include the ACC (5), Big East (5), Pac-10 (3), and the Mountain West (2). The Horizon, SEC and Ohio Valley each had one player selected.

Purdue (JaJuan Johnson, E’Twaun Moore) and No. 1-ranked Duke (Singler, Nolan Smith) were the only schools with two players on the Midseason List. In a change from the past several years, half of the players chosen are seniors. Only two freshmen made the list: Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger and Terrence Jones of Kentucky.

The 35th annual Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the announcement of the Men’s and Women’s Wooden Award winners, a special tribute to Coach Wooden and Wooden Award founder Duke Llewellyn, and the presentation of the Wooden Award All American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, will take place the weekend of April 8-10, 2011.

Name	Height	Class	Position	University	Conference
Marshon Brooks	6-5	Sr.	G/F	Providence	Big East
Alec Burks	6-6	So.	G	Colorado	Big 12
Malcolm Delaney	6-3	Sr.	G	Virginia Tech	ACC
Marcus Denmon	6-3	Jr.	G	Missouri	Big 12
LaceDarius Dunn	6-4	Sr.	G	Baylor	Big 12
Kenneth Faried	6-8	Sr.	F/C	Morehead State	Ohio Valley
Jimmer Fredette*	6-2	Sr.	G	Brigham Young	Mountain West
Austin Freeman	6-4	Sr.	G	Georgetown	Big East
Jordan Hamilton	6-7	So.	G/F	Texas	Big 12
Matt Howard	6-8	Jr.	F	Butler	Horizon League
Reggie Jackson	6-3	Jr.	G	Boston College	ACC
Rick Jackson	6-9	Sr.	F	Syracuse	Big East
JaJuan Johnson	6-10	Sr.	F/C	Purdue	Big Ten
Terrence Jones	6-8	Fr.	F	Kentucky	SEC
Kawhi Leonard	6-7	So.	F	San Diego State	Mountain West
Jon Leuer	6-10	Sr.	F	Wisconsin	Big Ten
Demetri McCamey	6-3	Sr.	G	Illinois	Big Ten
E’Twaun Moore	6-4	Sr.	G	Purdue	Big Ten
Marcus Morris	6-9	Jr.	F	Kansas	Big 12
Jacob Pullen	6-0	Sr.	G	Kansas State	Big 12
John Shurna	6-8	Jr.	F	Northwestern	Big Ten
Kyle Singler*	6-8	Sr.	F	Duke	ACC
Nolan Smith	6-2	Sr.	G	Duke	ACC
Jared Sullinger	6-9	Fr.	F	Ohio State	Big Ten
Isaiah Thomas	5-9	Jr.	G	Washington	Pac-10
Klay Thompson	6-6	Jr.	G	Washington State	Pac-10
Kemba Walker	6-1	Jr.	G	Connecticut	Big East
Brad Wanamaker	6-4	Sr.	G	Pitt	Big East
Derrick Williams	6-8	So.	F	Arizona	Pac-10
Jordan Williams	6-10	So.	F	Maryland	ACC