LOS ANGELES, CA (January 9, 2019) – The Los Angeles Athletic Club announced the John R. Wooden Award Presented by Wendy’s Women’s Midseason Top 25 on ESPNU and ESPNW. Chosen by a poll of national college basketball experts based on their performances during the first half of the 2018-19 season, the list comprises of 25 student-athletes who are front-runners for the sport’s most prestigious honor.

On the 2019 Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watch List, three players make their debut on the Wooden Watch after not being named on the Preseason Top 30: Kenisha Bell of Minnesota, Rhyne Howard of Kentucky, and Aari McDonald of Arizona. Four schools have multiple players on the list, led by Connecticut (Napheesa Collier, Crystal Dangerfield, and Katie Lou Samuelson) and Notre Dame (Arike Ogunbowale, Jessica Shepard, and Jackie Young) with three selections each, followed by two schools with two selections each: Baylor (Kalani Brown and Lauren Cox) and Oregon (Ruthy Hebard and Sabrina Ionescu).

The Pac-12 leads all conferences with six selections on the Midseason Top 25; followed by the ACC and SEC with five selections each; and the American, Big 12 and Big Ten with three selections apiece.

The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2019 John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy’s. The leading candidates will be further pared to 20 top players in early February. Fifteen 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 will be submitted to voters on the Final Ballot prior to the NCAA Tournament. Every year, players have made the Final Ballot that were not on the preseason or midseason lists. Voters are permitted to take into consideration the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament when casting the ballot. The Wooden Award All American Team™ will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the 2019 John R. Wooden Award will be presented during the ESPN College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy’s on Friday, April 12, 2019.

About the John R. Wooden Award

Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation’s best basketball player at an NCAA Division I university who has proven to his or her university that he or she meets or exceeds the qualifications of the John R. Wooden Award as set forth by Coach Wooden and the Wooden Award Steering Committee, including making progress towards graduation and maintaining at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA. Previous winners include Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97), Kevin Durant (’07), Candace Parker (’07 & ’08), Maya Moore (’09 & ’11), Chiney Ogwumike (’14), and last year’s recipients, A’ja Wilson of South Carolina and Jalen Brunson of Villanova.

Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed nearly one million dollars to the universities’ general scholarship fund in the names of the Wooden Award All American recipients and has sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with the Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament brings together Special Olympics athletes and Wooden Award All Americans and coaches in attendance. It is hosted at the Los Angeles Athletic Club during the John R. Wooden Award Weekend.

For up-to-date information on the Wooden Award, please go to www.woodenaward.com and follow the Wooden Award on Facebook at www.facebook.com/woodenaward and @WoodenAward on Twitter and Instagram.

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John R. Wooden Award Presented by Wendy’s

2018-19 Midseason Top 25 List

# indicates players selected as a 2017-18 John R. Wooden Award All American®

John R. Wooden Award, John R. Wooden Award All American Team, Wooden Award All American Team, Wooden Watch, Wooden Award and the player silhouettes are trademarks or registered trademarks of LAACO, Ltd.  Wendy’s is a registered trademark of Wendy’s International, LLC.  Used with permission.