Last year’s Wooden Award winner Brittney Griner returns to midseason list

Los Angeles (January 22, 2013)— The John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 20 was announced today by The Los Angeles Athletic Club President Steve Hathaway. Selected by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board, the list is made up of 20 student-athletes who, based on their performances in November, December, and January, are the frontrunners for selection to the National Ballot of college basketball’s most prestigious honor. The National Ballot consists of approximately 15 players who have proven to their universities that they are making progress toward graduation and maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA.

2012 Wooden Award winner and two-time All American Brittney Griner is no surprise on the midseason list in her senior season. The 6-8 post player averages 21.6 points (No. 10 in the nation) for the Baylor Bears. Notre Dame’s Skylar Diggins and Delaware’s Elena Delle Donne, both Wooden All Americans in 2012, also return. Diggins averages a team leading 15.3 points and 5.9 assists (No. 23 in the nation), directing an offense that ranks No. 2 nationally. Delle Donne averages 24.4 points and 9.3 rebounds for the Blue Hens, despite sitting in six of her team’s first seven games due to fatigue resulting from issues related to Lyme disease.

Other players at the top of the national statistical rankings on the midseason list include the nation’s top scorer, Sugar Rodgers of Georgetown (24.6 ppg), and Chiney Ogwumike of Stanford, who ranks in the top 10 in the country in both scoring (21.4 ppg, 10^th) and rebounding (11.6, 7^th).

The Wooden Award All American Team, consisting of the nation’s top five players, will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament. The John R. Wooden Award Player of the Year will be announced on April 12, 2013, at The Los Angeles Athletic Club as part of the 37^th annual Wooden Award Gala. The Gala will honor the Men’s and Women’s Wooden Award winners, All Americans and the Legends of Coaching Award winner, Kansas Head Coach Bill Self.

The Big East had six of the 20 selections, followed by the ACC with four; the Big 12 and Big Ten with three each; the SEC with two, and the CAA and Pac-12 with one apiece. No freshmen were chosen, and only two sophomores made the list: Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis of Connecticut and Elizabeth Williams of Duke. Connecticut placed three players on the midseason Top 20 (Mosqueda-Lewis, Kelly Faris, Stefanie Dolson), while Baylor (Griner, Odyssey Sims), Duke (Williams, Chelsea Gray), Maryland (Alyssa Thomas, Tianna Hawkins), Notre Dame (Diggins, Kayla McBride), and Penn State (Alex Bentley, Maggie Lucas) each had two athletes selected.

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 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).

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 Gala.

Follow the candidates and get the latest news throughout the season by logging on to www.WoodenAward.com 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 213-630-5206 or via email at [email protected].

2012-13 John R. Wooden Award Women’sMidseason Top 20 List

Players listed alphabetically

# 2012 Wooden Award winner • $ 2012 Wooden All American • % 2011 Wooden All American