Linda Reid
Collins, Singler, Lucas and Two-time Wooden All-American Harangody Head List
Los Angeles (August 19, 2009)— The 2009-10 preseason candidates for the John R. Wooden
Award All-American Team and Player of the Year trophy were announced today by Richard “Duke”
Llewellyn, Wooden Award Chairman and founder. The list is comprised of 50 student athletes who,
based on last year’s individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college
basketball’s most prestigious honor.
Luke Harangody of Notre Dame is the only 2009 Wooden All-American returning to college
basketball in 2009-10. He returns to South Bend for his final collegiate season and has a chance to
become a three-time Wooden All-American. Harangody averaged better than 20 points and 10
rebounds each of the last two seasons. He ranked among the nation’s top 10 scorers (25.2) and
rebounders (12.8) in 2009 and was a second team All-Big East pick.
Returning players from last year’s Wooden Award ballot, in addition to Harangody, include Sherron
Collins of Kansas, Duke’s Kyle Singler and Kalin Lucas of Michigan State. Purdue’s Robbie
Hummel made the Wooden ballot in 2008. Collins averaged 18.9 ppg a year ago and was a first team
All-Big 12 selection. He has led the Jayhawks to regular season conference titles in each of his first
three seasons in Lawrence. Singler is Duke’s top returning scorer (16.5 ppg in 2009) and rebounder
(7.7) and was a second team All-ACC pick in 2009. Lucas led the Spartans to the 2009 Final Four
and was the 2009 Big 10 Player of the Year, averaging 14.7 ppg.
Transfers, freshmen and medical redshirts are not eligible for the preseason list. These players and
others who excel throughout the season will be evaluated and considered for December’s Midseason
list and the official voting ballot released in March.
Nine schools had two players chosen to the Wooden Award preseason Top 50 and all are familiar
names to fans who followed college basketball a season ago: Kansas (Collins, Cole Aldrich),
Michigan State (Lucas, Raymar Morgan) Duke (Singler, Jon Scheyer), Michigan (DeShawn Sims,
Manny Harris), North Carolina (Ed Davis, Deon Thompson), Purdue (Hummel, E’Twaun Moore),
Connecticut (Kemba Walker, Jerome Dyson), Villanova (Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher), and West
Virginia (Devin Ebanks, Da’Sean Butler).
Eleven conferences are represented on the Wooden Award Preseason List. Leading the way is the
Big East (11), followed by the ACC (10), Big 10 (8), SEC (7), Big 12 (6), Pac-10 (3), and Atlantic 10,
CAA, Conference USA, WAC and West Coast with one apiece.
In late December, the Wooden Award Committee will release the Midseason Top 30 list, followed
in March by the National Ballot, consisting of approximately 20 top players who have proven to
their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining 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.
The 34th annual Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the announcement of the Men’s and
Women’s Wooden Award winner, and the presentation of the Wooden Award All-American Teams
and the Legends of Coaching Award, will take place the weekend of April 9-11, 2010.
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