John R. Wooden Award^® Announces 2016-17 Preseason Top 30

LOS ANGELES (December 7, 2016) – The John R. Wooden Award^® announced the Women’s Preseason Top 30 today on ESPN’s SportsCenter and on ESPNW. The list is comprised of 30 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for college basketball’s most prestigious honor. The list is chosen by a preseason poll of national women’s college basketball media members.

2016 Wooden Award All-Americans Kelsey Mitchell of Ohio State and A’ja Wilson of South Carolina headline this year’s preseason Top 30 list. Louisville leads all schools with three selections: Asia Durr, Mariya Moore and Myisha Hines-Allen. The defending NCAA champion Connecticut features two players on the list: Kia Nurse and Katie Lou Samuelson. Baylor (Nina Davis and Alexis Jones), Maryland (Brionna Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough), Notre Dame (Brianna Turner and Lindsay Allen) and South Carolina (Alaina Coates and Wilson) also have two selections.

Seven conferences are represented on the list with the ACC boasting ten selections, followed by the Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC with five apiece. The American and Big 12 each have two selections and the Big East has one pick. Of the student-athletes selected for the Preseason Top 30 list, 27 out of 30 are upperclassmen, including 15 seniors. Similar to the 2016 Preseason Top 30 list, no freshman made the list.

Players not chosen to the preseason list are eligible for the midseason list, the late season list and the National Ballot. The National Ballot consists of 15 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.

About the John R. Wooden Award

The 41^st annual presentation of the John R. Wooden Award® to the men’s and women’s most outstanding basketball player will be the anchor presentation of the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show presented by Wendy’s® on ESPN2 on Friday, April 7, 2017. The men’s and women’s John R. Wooden Award All-American Teams will be honored during the ceremony, and the 2017 Wooden Award Legends of Coaching Trophy™ will be presented to Muffet McGraw, Head Women’s Basketball Coach at Notre Dame. 

Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award® program features the most prestigious individual honors in college basketball. The Wooden Award Trophy is bestowed annually upon the nation’s best male and female player who have proven to their respective universities that they are making progress toward graduation while 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 (‘07), Maya Moore (‘09 and ’11), Trey Burke (’13), Doug McDermott (‘14), Frank Kaminsky (’15). Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield won the 2016 men’s Wooden Award presented by Wendy’s and Breanna Stewart of Connecticut won the 2016 women’s Wooden Award.

Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award® has contributed close to a million dollars to the general scholarship fund of the honoree’s University in the name of the All-American recipient. The Award has also enabled more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long basketball camps in the Award’s name. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with the Special Olympics Southern California each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament takes place at the Los Angeles Athletic Club the weekend of the John R. Wooden Award®presentation, and brings together Special Olympics athletes and the Wooden Award All-Americans.

Fans can follow the candidates en route to the Wooden Award presentation and get the latest news by liking the Wooden Award Facebook page or following @WoodenAward on Twitter and Instagram. For more information on the John R. Wooden Award, please contact Ernest Baskerville at (213) 630-5231 or via email at [email protected].