WOMEN’S LATE SEASON TOP 20

ANNOUNCED BY

JOHN R. WOODEN AWARD^®

LOS ANGELES, CA (February 17, 2016) – The John R. Wooden Award^® announced a Women’s Late Season Top 20 list of outstanding student-athletes who are the frontrunners for college basketball’s most prestigious individual honor at roughly two-thirds of the way through the 2015-16 season. The list is chosen by a poll of national women’s college basketball media members and was announced on ESPNW.

After not appearing on either the Preseason Top 30 or the Midseason Top 20 lists, Jordin Canada (UCLA) appears on the Late Season Top 20. Likewise, players not on this most recent list are still eligible for the final ballot, which will consist of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and are 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.

On the 2016 Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 list, Connecticut has three players selected: Breanna Stewart (2015 John R. Wooden Award winner), Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck. Three schools have two players on the list: Maryland (Brionna Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough), Ohio State (Ameryst Alston and Kelsey Mitchell) and South Carolina (Tiffany Mitchell and A’ja Wilson). The Big Ten leads all conferences with seven selections, followed by The American with four, the Pac-12 and SEC with three each, the ACC with two and the Big 12 with one.

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 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 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 (‘09), 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 week-long basketball camps in the Award’s name. 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 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 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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2015-15 John R. Wooden Award Late Season Top 20, Women

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

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