March 7, 2005
Illinois leads the nation with three players named to the official ballot for the Wooden Award All-America Team and Player of the Year.
The Wooden Award Committee has selected 23 players as finalists for the award, which includes Illinois' Dee Brown, Luther Head and Deron Williams. A national panel of over 1,000 voters comprised of sports media and college basketball experts will vote for the 10-member Wooden All-America Team as well as the Wooden Award Player of the Year. The winner be announced on April 9 at Noon CT during a CBS telecast of the Wooden Award ceremony from the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
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 university that he is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include such notables as Michael Jordan ('84), Larry Bird ('79), Tim Duncan ('97), and last year's recipient, Jameer Nelson ('04).
A national poll was conducted by the John R. Wooden Award National Advisor Board to determine the ballot for the 2004-2005 Wooden Award All-American Team. The top 23 candidates have been selected based on this year's individual performance and team records.
The ballot includes the following 23 players (listed alphabetically):
Andrew Bogut, Utah
Dee Brown, Illinois
Taylor Coppenrath, Vermont
Ike Diogu, Arizona State
Francisco Garcia, Louisville
Ryan Gomes, Providence
Joey Graham, Oklahoma State
Luther Head, Illinois
John Lucas, Oklahoma State
Sean May, North Carolina
Rashad McCants, North Carolina
Chris Paul, Wake Forest
J.J. Redick, Duke
Lawrence Roberts, Mississippi State
Nate Robinson, Washington
Wayne Simien, Kansas
Craig Smith, Boston College
Salim Stoudamire, Arizona
Ronny Turiaf, Gonzaga
Hakim Warrick, Syracuse
Deron Williams, Illinois
Shelden Williams, Duke
Kennedy Winston, Alabama
For more information on the John R. Wooden Award, visit the official Wooden Award website.
