Redick, Augustus Win Wooden Awards



Redick, Augustus Win Wooden Awards

LOS ANGELES (AP) -Duke’s J.J. Redick and LSU’s Seimone Augustus capped their exceptional college careers by winning the John R. Wooden awards, presented Saturday to basketball’s players of the year.

Redick, completing a sweep of the men’s player of the year awards this spring, collected 4,646 points to edge Gonzaga’s Adam Morrison by 74 points in the third-closest balloting by the panel of over 1,000 voters.

Duke’s Shelden Williams finished third with 2,142 points, followed by Villanova’s Randy Foye with 2,050 and Washington’s Brandon Roy with 1,885.

“I’m extremely honored to received this award,” Redick said. “All the candidates were very deserving. I never set out to win individual awards. To win is just a huge honor.”

The award is named for the former UCLA coach who guided the Bruins to 10 NCAA championships in a 12-year span before retiring in 1975. UCLA’s Marques Johnson was the first to win the award – two years after Wooden stepped down.

Redick, a 6-foot-4 senior, averaged 26.8 points this season – second in the country behind Morrison – and leaves Duke as the leading scorer in Atlantic Coast Conference history.

He is the sixth Duke player to win the award, joining Christian Laettner, Elton Brand, Shane Battier, Jason Williams and Alana Beard, who won two years ago to become the first woman so honored.

Augustus, a 6-foot-1 senior, has won the women’s award each of the past two years to join Virginia’s Ralph Sampson (1982-83) as the only two-time winner.

Augustus collected 298 points in the balloting of over 200 voters to finish 83 points ahead of North Carolina’s Ivory Latta. Cappie Pondexter of Rutgers finished third with 135 points, followed by Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris with 106 and Duke’s Monique Currie with 96.

Augustus was unable to attend the ceremony at the Los Angeles Athletic Club because she was traveling to Australia, where she’s trying out for the U.S. senior Olympic team.

“She doesn’t know yet because she’s on a plane,” said Augustus’ mother, Kim, who attended the ceremony with her husband, Seymore. “It’s really exciting for us. Once she finds out, she’s really going to be excited.”

Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim, honored as the Wooden Legends of Coaching winner, presented the men’s award, and former Southern California star Cheryl Miller presented the women’s award.


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