Players not chosen to the preseason team are eligible for both the midseason team and the National Ballot. The National Ballot consists of 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, consisting of the nation’s top five players, will be announced the week of the Final Four.

Connecticut, the 2014 NCAA champion and currently No. 2 in the nation, boasts two players on the midseason Top 20 list: Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Breanna Stewart, who finished third in the voting as a sophomore a year ago. She is the only returning Wooden Award All American this season. So far this year, Stewart, a junior, is averaging 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds, while shooting 52% from the field. 

Two more teams put a pair of players on the list, California (Brittany Boyd, Rashanda Gray); and No. 1-ranked South Carolina (Tiffany Mitchell, A’ja Wilson). Wilson is the only freshman on the Midseason Top 20. Half of the players chosen to the women’s midseason list, 10 out of 20, are seniors.

The Pac-12 led all conferences with five selections, followed by the ACC and SEC with four each, the Big 12 with three. The American Athletic Conference has had two selections, and the Big Ten and MAC had one apiece. 

Players not chosen to the preseason list are eligible for the National Ballot. The National Ballot consists of 15-20 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, consisting of the nation’s top five players, will be announced the week of the Final Four.

The 39th annual Wooden Award ceremony will honor the Men's and Women's Wooden Award winners, and will include the presentation of the Wooden Award All American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, which in 2015 will go to San Diego State Head Men’s Basketball Coach Steve Fisher. The event will take place the weekend of April 10-12, 2015. 

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). Stanford’s Chiney Ogwumike won the 2014 Wooden Award. 

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 going to the Wooden Award facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/WoodenAward or twitter feed @WoodenAward.  For more information on the John R. Wooden Award, please contact the Wooden Award staff at 213-630-5231 or via email at [email protected].