John R. Wooden Award Presented By Wendy's Announces 2016-17 Late Season Top 20

John R. Wooden Award^® presented by Wendy’s^®

Announces Late Season Top 20 List

LOS ANGELES, CA (February 8, 2017) – The Los Angeles Athletic Club announced the Late Season Top 20 list in an effort to further pare down the list of outstanding candidates for the 2017 John R. Wooden Award^® presented by Wendy’s^®. The list of players was announced on ESPNU today.

After not appearing on either the women’s Wooden Award^™ Preseason Top 30 or the Midseason Top 25, Chantel Osahor, the nation’s leading rebounder, and Gabby Williams, who recorded a triple-double in #1 Connecticut’s 94^th consecutive victory, appear on the Late Season Top 20. Likewise, players not appearing on this list are still eligible for the Final Ballot, which will be announced in early March and will consist of 15 top players. Prior to being listed on the Final Ballot, each player must be certified by their university to meet the qualifications of the Award, including: candidates must be full-time students in an accredited NCAA college or university; candidates must be a full-time student making progress toward graduation and have a cumulative 2.00 grade point average since enrolling in their school; candidates must exhibit strength of character, both on and off the court; candidates should contribute to team effort; candidates must excel in both offense and defense; and candidates should be considered on their performance over the course of the entire season. Voting begins at the end of the season, and voters, consisting of nearly 1,000 members of the national college basketball media, will take into account the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

Five schools have two players on the Late Season Top 20 list: Connecticut (Katie Lou Samuelson and Gabby Williams), Maryland (Brionna Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough), Notre Dame (Lindsay Allen and Brianna Turner), South Carolina (Alaina Coates and A’ja Wilson) and Washington (Chantel Osahor and Kelsey Plum). The Pac-12 leads the conference tally with six selections on the Late Season Top 20 list, followed by the Big Ten and SEC with four apiece, the ACC with three, The American with two and the Big 12 with one selection.

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.

About the John R. Wooden Award

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 and female player, who have met the selection criteria as set forth by the Award’s creators. 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].

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Name	School	Conference	Height	Class	Position
Lindsay Allen	Notre Dame	ACC	5-8	Sr.	G
Kristine Anigwe	California	Pac-12	6-4	Soph.	C/F
Jordin Canada	UCLA	Pac-12	5-6	Jr.	G
Alaina Coates	South Carolina	SEC	6-4	Sr.	C
Nia Coffey	Northwestern	Big Ten	6-1	Sr.	F
Makayla Epps	Kentucky	SEC	5-10	Sr.	G
Alexis Jones	Baylor	Big 12	5-9	Sr.	G
Brionna Jones	Maryland	Big Ten	6-3	Sr.	C
Erica McCall	Stanford	Pac-12	6-3	Sr.	F
Kelsey Mitchell^#	Ohio State	Big Ten	5-8	Jr.	G
Chantel Osahor	Washington	Pac-12	6-2	Sr.	F/C
Alexis Peterson	Syracuse	ACC	5-7	Sr.	G
Kelsey Plum	Washington	Pac-12	5-8	Sr.	G
Katie Lou Samuelson	Connecticut	The American	6-3	Soph.	G/F
Brianna Turner	Notre Dame	ACC	6-3	Jr.	F
Victoria Vivians	Mississippi State	SEC	6-1	Jr.	G
Shatori Walker-Kimbrough	Maryland	Big Ten	5-11	Sr.	G
Sydney Weise	Oregon State	Pac-12	6-1	Sr.	G
Gabby Williams	Connecticut	The American	5-11	Jr.	F
A'ja Wilson^#	South Carolina	SEC	6-5	Jr.	F

# indicates player selected as 2015-16 Wooden Award All-American

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Barry Morris commented 2017-02-24 07:29:48 -0800
Gabby Williams is flourishing with 13 points, 8.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.8 steals per game. The Nevada native has had 13 team-high rebounds and a team-high scoring of 26 points against a highly competitive South Carolina. Lou Samuelson leads the team in scoring with an average of 20.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists. The California native has had 10 team-high scoring and 2 team-high rebounds. Collier enjoys an average of 19.8 points, a team-high 9.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. The Missouri native has had a 12 team-high scoring, mostly in high-stake games, 13 team-high rebounds and 11 double-doubles. Consider a player’s team achievement and quality of its opponents in you Awards.
Jared Look commented 2017-02-11 17:19:38 -0800
Naphessa Collier should not be dropped from this list. She’s awesome in every category and a true force for UConn women’s team. This is not right.
Justin Murphy commented 2017-02-11 11:05:45 -0800
Why was Napheesa Collier dropped? Is there a limit on the number of candidates per school? None have more than 2.
Barry Morris commented 2017-02-10 19:52:26 -0800
Top Ten – - All American:
Katie Lou, N. Collier, G. Williams, K. Nurse, S. Chong, K. Plum, C. Osahor, A. Peterson, N. Coffey and K. Mitchell.
Ollie Flanagan commented 2017-02-10 07:44:45 -0800
How awkward for the Los Angeles Athletic Club that the player they dropped has, in the last three games, shot 32-37 from the field, with 73 points, 31 rebounds, eight assists and nine blocks. Oops!
Betty George commented 2017-02-09 18:57:34 -0800
Amazing how the bar has been raised up in 2017.
Numbers by past JR Wooden Award Winners: P/G, R/G, A/G:
2014: 19.8; 8.5; 3.2
2015: 17.0; 7.8; 3.1
2016: 19.4; 8.7; 4.0

In 2017, a player with 19.5; 8.5; 2.2 record can not make a cut for the top 20 list?
Barry Morris commented 2017-02-09 11:53:09 -0800
Do Numbers Count?
P/G; R/G; A/G; Blk/G; Stl/G: (Position – All Forwards):
Player 1: 14.7; 7.6; 1.2, 2.3; 1.0
Player 2: 17.0; 7.2; 1.5; 2.0; 0.8
Player 3: 19.5; 8.5; 2.2; 1.9; 1.9
1. plays for Notre Dame, #2 for SC. Player #3 has the most high points’ games (10) and most high rebounds’ games (11) on her team. She also has the highest combined statistics on her team and numerous double doubles. Players# 1 and # 2 makes the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 list and Napheesa Collier does not. This is just one of numerous examples!