Jan. 11, 2011
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Gonzaga University women's basketball senior point guard Courtney Vandersloot has been named one of the top 20 candidates for the John R. Wooden Award, the nation's most coveted college basketball honor.
The John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 20 lost was announced today by the Los Angeles Athletic Club. The list is comprised of 20 student-athletes who will compete for this season's player of the year award and the midseason list is based on individual excellence and team record during the first half of the season.
Vandersloot, who was the inaugural Bulldog to make the list in 2009-10, now becomes the first two-time midseason honoree and is one of an unprecedented nine players from the 2010 Wooden Award ballot to return to the midseason list in 2011.
The Kent, Wash., native leads the nation in assists per contest at 9.4, fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.18 and 11th in double-doubles with eight. She is also averaging 17.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.1 steals per game. Gonzaga is off to a 13-4 start, which includes winnings its opening West Coast Conference game of the season this past Saturday.
Connecticut's Maya Moore, the 2009 Wooden Award winner and a 2008 and 2010 Wooden Award All American, is looking to become only the second four-time Wooden Award All America, after Courtney Paris of Oklahoma accomplished the feat from 2006-09. This season, Moore is averaging 23.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.5 steals per game. Stanford's Nnemkadi Ogqumike, the reigning Pacific-10 Player of the Year, helped her team snap the Huskies 90 games winning streak; on the season she averages 17.2 points and a team-best 8.4 rebounds.
The Wooden Award All American Team will be announced the week of the "Elite Eight" round during the NCAA Tournament, making it unique among college postseason awards. Transfers, freshmen and medical redshirts are eligible for this midseason list but did not appear on the preseason Top 30. All players nationally who excel throughout the season will be evaluated and considered for the official voting ballot released in March. The National Ballot consists of approximately 20 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.
The Wooden Award Women's Advisory Board had an especially difficult task in preparing this year's midseason list, with several members commenting that they could find six or seven additional players who were deserving beyond the 20 selected. Competition for one of the 20 spots on the Wooden Award Ballot is expected to be especially tough this year.
Stanford and North Carolina were the only two schools with two players chosen to the list. The Cardinal is represented by Ogwumike and senior forward Kayla Pedersen, while Jessica Breland and Italee Lucas, the Tar Heels' senior leaders, are two of the four ACC players selected.
The ACC had the highest number of players chosen, with four. Other conferences with multiple players represented include the Big East (3), Pac-10 (3), Big 12 (3), SEC (2), and Big 10 (2). The Atlantic 10, CAA, and West Coast Conferences each had one selection.
The 35th annual Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the announcement of the Men's and Women's Wooden Award winners, a special tribute to Coach Wooden and Wooden Award founder Duke Llewellyn, and the presentation of the Wooden Award All American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, given to Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo, will take place April 8, 2011.
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), Blake Griffin ('09) and Maya Moore of Connecticut ('09). Ohio State's Evan Turner and Connecticut's Tina Charles won the Award in 2010.
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed close to a million dollars to universities' general scholarship fund 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 on the Friday prior to the John R. Wooden Award Ceremony.
Follow the candidates and get the latest news throughout the season by logging on to www.WoodenAward.com. For more information on the John R. Wooden Award, please contact the Wooden Award staff at 213-630-5206 or email at woodenaward@laac.net.
2010-11 John R. Wooden Award - Midseason Top 20 List
Name Height Class Position University Conference
Danielle Adams 6-1 Sr. F/C Texas A&M Big 12
Kachine Alexander 5-9 Sr. G Iowa Big Ten
Angie Bjorklund 6-0 Sr. G/F Tennessee SEC
Jessica Breland 6-3 Sr. F North Carolina ACC
Skylar Diggins 5-9 So. G Notre Dame Big East
Jasmine Dixon 6-0 Jr. G UCLA Pac-10
Victoria Dunlap 6-1 Sr. F Kentucky SEC
Dawn Evans * 5-7 Sr. G James Madison CAA
Brittney Griner 6-8 So. C Baylor Big 12
Amber Harris * 6-5 Sr. F Xavier A10
Shenise Johnson 5-11 Jr. F Miami ACC
Jantel Lavender * 6-4 Sr. C Ohio State Big Ten
Italee Lucas 5-8 Sr. G North Carolina ACC
Maya Moore $#* 6-0 Sr. F Connecticut Big East
Nnemkadi Ogwumike $* 6-2 Jr. F Stanford Pac-10
Kayla Pedersen * 6-4 Jr. F Stanford Pac-10
Danielle Robinson * 5-9 Sr. G Oklahoma Big 12
Ta'Shaouna "Sugar" Rodgers 5-11 So. G Georgetown Big East
Jasmine Thomas * 5-9 Sr. G Duke ACC
Courtney Vandersloot * 5-8 Sr. G Gonzaga WCC
(Players listed alphabetically.)
*indicates player chosen to the 2010 Wooden Award ballot
$ Indicates 2010 Wooden Award All American
# Indicated 2009 Wooden Award winner
