Men's Basketball: Gansey, Pittsnogle Make List
January 28, 2006 09:06 PM | General
January 28, 2006
LOS ANGELES - Following a thrilling early season in college basketball that included buzzer beaters and an ever-changing top ten, the John R. Wooden Award Committee today announced the Wooden Award Midseason All-American Team (see attached). Composed of the top 30 players who are expected to compete for this year's player of the year award, the Midseason list is based on individual player performance and team records through the first half of the season.
The Midseason list includes 2004-2005 Wooden Award All-Americans J.J. Redick (Duke) and Dee Brown (Illinois), as well as a number of outstanding players that were in the running for last year's Wooden Award. Redick ranks third in the nation in scoring (27.3 ppg) while leading Duke to a 17-1 record, and Brown, despite starting slowly while recovering from an off-season injury, leads the Illini in scoring (15.3 ppg) and assists (5.7 apg). Shelden Williams (Duke) and Craig Smith (Boston College) join Redick and Brown as the only Midseason candidates named to last year's official voting ballot. Both the nation's leading scorer, Adam Morrison (28.3 ppg), and leading rebounder, Paul Millsap (12.8 rpg), were selected to the Midseason list.
Other Midseason candidates that were in the running for last year's Wooden Award include Justin Gray (Wake Forest), Carl Krauser (Pittsburgh), Gerry McNamara (Syracuse) and P.J. Tucker (Texas). Further, seven newcomers, an unusually large number, have been selected to the Midseason list who were not selected to the Preseason list. This group includes LaMarcus Aldridge (Texas), Randy Foye (Villanova), Mike Gansey (West Virginia), Thomas Gardner (Missouri), Taurean Green (Florida), Marco Killingsworth (Indiana) and Allan Ray (Villanova). In total, 18 seniors, six juniors and six sophomores were selected to the Midseason list. Though no freshmen were selected, they were eligible for the Midseason list and will be considered for the National Ballot.
"The Midseason Selection Committee had an incredibly difficult task this season in narrowing the list to 30 players because there have been so many outstanding individual performers thus far," said Duke Llewellyn, Wooden Award chairman. "In addition to a number of top preseason candidates who have excelled, the Midseason list includes several talented newcomers who have elevated their teams. We look forward to watching this group of amazing athletes as we determine the top candidates for the Wooden Award All-American Team."
Nine NCAA conferences are represented on the list, including the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, Conference USA, Pac-10, SEC, Western Athletic Conference and the West Coast Conference. The best represented conferences include the Big East with nine candidates and the Big Ten and ACC conferences, with five and four candidates, respectively. Several teams have two players nominated, including Michigan State (Ager and Davis), Texas (Aldridge and Tucker), Villanova (Foye and Ray), West Virginia (Gansey and Pittsnogle) and Duke (Redick and Williams).
Players who do not make the Midseason list are still eligible for the national ballot, which will be selected in March and will consist of approximately 20 players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. Over 1000 voters, comprised of sports media members and college basketball experts across the nation, will then cast their votes to determine both the 10-member All-American Team and player of the year recipient.
The 2006 Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the presentation of the Men's and Women's Wooden Award, the Wooden Award All-American Teams, and Legends of Coaching Award recipient Jim Boeheim of Syracuse University, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on April 8, 2006, and will be broadcast live on a national CBS telecast. The top five male and female finalists will be invited to Los Angeles for the awards ceremony and will receive a contribution from the John R. Wooden Award Scholarship Fund for their university's general scholarship fund.
About the 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 cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include such notables as Larry Bird ('79), Michael Jordan ('84), Tim Duncan ('97) and last year's recipient, Andrew Bogut ('05).
