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 Lawal was a third-team All-ACC choice last year. |
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Lawal Named to Pre-season Wooden Award List
Aug. 19, 2009
LOS ANGELES - Georgia Tech forward Gani Lawal has been named one of 50 pre-season candidates for the John R. Wooden Award All-American Team and Player of the Year trophy, announced today by Richard "Duke" Llewellyn, Wooden Award Chairman and founder.
The list is comprised of 50 student athletes who, based on last year's individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college basketball's most prestigious honor.
Lawal, a 6-9 junior from Norcross, Ga., averaged 15.1 points and 9.5 rebounds per game while shooting 55.6 percent from the floor last year for the Yellow Jackets. He ranked in the top five of the Atlantic Coast Conference in rebound average and field goal percentage, and led the conference in "double-doubles."
A third-team All-ACC choice as a sophomore, Lawal entered his name in the NBA draft in April, but withdrew before the deadline and remained at Tech for his junior season.
Tech has never had a player win the Wooden Award, but five have been finalists - Mark Price (1986), Tom Hammonds (1989), Dennis Scott (1990), Kenny Anderson (1990) and Matt Harpring (1997, 1998).
Luke Harangody of Notre Dame is the only 2009 Wooden All-American returning to college basketball in 2009-10. Other returning players from last year's Wooden Award ballot, include Sherron Collins of Kansas, Duke's Kyle Singler and Kalin Lucas of Michigan State. Purdue's Robbie Hummel made the Wooden ballot in 2008.
These players and others who excel throughout the season will be evaluated and considered for December's Midseason list and the official voting ballot released in March.
Nine schools had two players chosen to the Wooden Award preseason Top 50: Kansas (Collins, Cole Aldrich), Michigan State (Lucas, Raymar Morgan) Duke (Singler, Jon Scheyer), Michigan (DeShawn Sims, Manny Harris), North Carolina (Ed Davis, Deon Thompson), Purdue (Hummel, E'Twaun Moore), Connecticut (Kemba Walker, Jerome Dyson), Villanova (Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher), and West Virginia (Devin Ebanks, Da'Sean Butler).
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Eleven conferences are represented on the Wooden Award Preseason List. Leading the way is the Big East (11), followed by the ACC (10), Big 10 (8), SEC (7), Big 12 (6), Pac-10 (3), and Atlantic 10, CAA, Conference USA, WAC and West Coast with one apiece.
In late December, the Wooden Award Committee will release the Midseason Top 30 list, followed in March by the National Ballot, consisting of approximately 20 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. The Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced the week of the "Elite Eight" round during the NCAA Tournament.
The 34th annual Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the announcement of the Men's and Women's Wooden Award winner, and the presentation of the Wooden Award All-American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, will take place the weekend of April 9-11, 2010.
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 Blake Griffin ('09). Candace Parker of Tennessee won the Women's Wooden Award in 2007 and 2008.
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.
2009-10 John R. Wooden Award
Preseason Top 50 List
Name Height Class Position University Conference Solomon Alabi 7-1 So. C Florida State ACC Cole Aldrich 6-11 Jr. C Kansas Big 12 Al-Farouq Aminu 6-9 So. F Wake Forest ACC Luke Babbit 6-9 So. F Nevada WAC Talor Battle 5-11 Jr. G Penn State Big Ten Trevor Booker 6-7 Sr. F Clemson ACC Matt Bouldin 6-5 Sr. G Gonzaga West Coast Craig Brackins 6-10 Jr. F Iowa State Big 12 Da'Sean Butler 6-7 Sr. F West Virginia Big East Sherron Collins 5-11 Sr. G Kansas Big 12 Ed Davis 6-10 So. F North Carolina ACC Devan Downey 5-9 Sr G South Carolina SEC Jerome Dyson 6-3 Sr. G Connecticut Big East Devin Ebanks 6-9 So. F West Virginia Big East Corey Fisher 6-1 Jr. G Villanova Big East Luke Harangody*# 6-8 Sr. F Notre Dame Big East Manny Harris 6-5 Jr. G Michigan Big Ten Gordon Hayward 6-8 So. G/F Butler Conference USA Jeremy Hazell 6-5 Jr. G Seton Hall Big East Robbie Hummel 6-8 Jr. F Purdue Big Ten Damion James 6-7 Sr. G/F Texas Big 12 Sylven Landesberg 6-6 So. G Virginia ACC Gani Lawal 6-9 Jr. F Georgia Tech ACC Kalin Lucas 6-0 Jr. G Michigan State Big Ten Tasmin Mitchell 6-7 Sr. F Louisiana State SEC Greg Monroe 6-11 So. C Georgetown Big East E'Twaun Moore 6-3 Jr. G Purdue Big Ten Raymar Morgan 6-8 Sr. F Michigan State Big Ten A.J. Ogilvy 6-11 Jr. C Vanderbilt SEC Patrick Patterson 6-9 Jr. F Kentucky SEC Jerome Randle 5-10 Sr. G California Pac 10 Scottie Reynolds 6-2 Jr. G Villanova Big East Samardo Samuels 6-8 So. F Louisville Big East Larry Sanders 6-11 Jr. F VCU CAA Jon Scheyer 6-5 Sr. G Duke ACC DeShawn Sims 6-8 Sr. F Michigan Big Ten Kyle Singler 6-8 Jr. F Duke ACC Tyler Smith 6-7 Sr. G/F Tennessee SEC Isaiah Thomas 5-8 So. G Washington Pac 10 Deon Thompson 6-8 Sr. F North Carolina ACC J.T. Tiller 6-3 Sr. G Missouri Big 12 Evan Turner 6-7 Jr. G/F Ohio State Big Ten Jarvis Varnado 6-9 Sr. F/C Mississippi St. SEC Greivis Vasquez 6-6 Sr. G Maryland ACC Deonta Vaughn 6-1 Sr. G Cincinnati Big East Kemba Walker 6-1 So. G Connecticut Big East Willie Warren 6-4 So. G Oklahoma Big 12 Terrico White 6-5 So. G Mississippi SEC Nic Wise 5-10 Sr. G Arizona Pac 10 Chris Wright 6-8 Jr. F Dayton Atlantic 10(Based on a preseason poll. Players listed alphabetically.) *indicates 2009 Wooden All-American # indicates 2008 Wooden All-American
