Two-time All American Caps Career With Nation’s Top Women’s Basketball Honor

Los Angeles (April 11, 2014)— The John R. Wooden Award®, the preeminent collegiate basketball player of the year award, was presented this evening at the Los Angeles Athletic Club by Coach John Wooden’s grandson, Craig Impelman, to Stanford University senior Chiney Ogwumike.  Impelman made the announcement and presented Ogwumike with the Wooden Award Trophy whose unique design was inspired by Coach Wooden’s ideal of the “total basketball player.”

Ogwumike is a two-time Pac-12 Player of the Year and three-time Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. She led her team to the Final Four three times in her four seasons with the Cardinal, including this year. Her 26.1 points (No. 4 nationally), 12.1 rebounds per game, 60.1% field-goal percentage, and 27 double-doubles make her the only player in the country to rank in the NCAA’s top 10 in each of those categories. She is No. 5 on the NCAA all-time rebounding list with 1,567 career boards and is the Pac-12’s all-time leading scorer with 2,737 points.

Voting took place from March 12 through 25, allowing voters to take into account play through the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Voters are national women’s college basketball experts who ranked 15 balloted players, and Ogwumike recorded the highest point total. All players have proven to their universities that they are making progress toward graduation and are maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA, an important component of the Award insisted upon by Coach Wooden.

Ogwumike received 774 points, followed by Odyssey Sims of Baylor with 761, Breanna Stewart of Connecticut with 732, Kayla McBride of Notre Dame with 562, and Alyssa Thomas rounded out the top five with 509 points. All five players are Wooden Award All Americans for 2014.

Ogwumike is the first Wooden Award winner from Stanford, and the first from the Pac-12 Conference as well. She was a Wooden Award All American in 2013, and her older sister, Nneka, was a Wooden Award All American at Stanford in 2012. Ogwumike was joined in Los Angeles for the Gala event by Nneka, other family members, and her Stanford coach, Tara VanDerveer.

The John R. Wooden Award Player of the Year was announced as part of the 38th annual Wooden Award Gala presented by Wendy’s weekend tonight at The Los Angeles Athletic Club. The event honors the Men’s and Women’s Wooden Award winners, and includes the presentation of the Wooden Award All American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, this year given to VanDerveer. In addition, the Gala featured a special presentation of the Los Angeles Athletic Club Outreach Award to Adreian Payne of Michigan State.

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 player at an institution of higher education who has proven to his or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation and 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 (’09) and Maya Moore of Connecticut (’09 and ‘11). Baylor’s Brittney Griner won the 2013 John R. Wooden Award.

Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed close to a million dollars to universities’ general scholarship funds in the names of the All American recipients. The Award has also sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps in the Award’s name.   Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament.  The day-long tournament, which brings together Special Olympic athletes and the All Americans, takes place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club the weekend of the John R. Wooden Award Ceremony.

Follow the candidates and get the latest news throughout the season by logging on to www.WoodenAward.com or going to the Wooden Award facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/WoodenAward.  For more information on the John R. Wooden Award, please contact the Wooden Award staff at 213-630-5206 or via email at [email protected].

 John R. Wooden Award All-Time Women’s Winners