LOS ANGELES, CA (March 4, 2016) – The John R. Wooden Award^®, headquartered at the Los Angeles Athletic Club, announced the 2016 Wooden Award Women’s National Ballot today on ESPNW.com. Selected by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board, the ballot consists of 15 student-athletes who are eligible for college basketball’s most prestigious honor. All players on the ballot have proven to their universities that they are making progress towards graduation and are maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA.

Voting will take place from March 15thto March 22nd, and voters, consisting of hundreds of members of the national women’s college basketball media, may take into consideration the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The Wooden Award All-American Team, consisting of the nation’s top five players, will be announced the week of the Final Four. The announcement will be made during a 30-minute show March 28 on ESPNU at 8pm EST.

On the 2016 Wooden Award Women’s National Ballot, Connecticut has three players: Breanna Stewart (2015 John R. Wooden Award winner), Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck. Two other teams have a pair of players on the ballot: Maryland (Brionna Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough) and South Carolina (Tiffany Mitchell and A’ja Wilson). The Big Ten leads all conferences with five selections; followed by The American with four; the Pac-12 and SEC with two each; and the ACC and Big 12 with one each.  

The John R. Wooden Award will be the anchor presentation of the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show presented by Wendy’s. The men’s and women’s John R. Wooden Award All-American Teams will be honored during the ceremony, as well as the 2016 Legends of Coaching Award^™, which will be presented to Tubby Smith, Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Texas Tech. The event will take place the weekend of April 7-9, 2016.

Created in 1976 by the Los Angeles Athletic Club, 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 player and female player who have proven to their respective universities that they are making progress towards 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) and Doug McDermott (‘14). Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky won the 2015 men’s Wooden Award presented by Wendy’s and Breanna Stewart of Connecticut won the 2015 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 attend 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 the Special Olympics athletes and the Wooden Award All-Americans.

Fans can follow candidates en route to the Wooden Award presentation and get the latest news throughout the season 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].

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John R. Wooden Award Women’s 2016 National Ballot

 * indicates player selected as 2014-15 Wooden Award Player of the Year

# indicates player selected as 2014-15 Wooden Award All-American