LOS ANGELES – Senior forward Maya Moore and junior guard Tiffany Hayes have each been selected to the Wooden Award Preseason Top-30 list as announced by the Los Angeles Athletic Club on Tuesday, October 5. The list is comprised of 30 student-athletes who, based on last year’s individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college basketball’s most prestigious honor.
Moore, the 2009 Wooden Award winner and a 2008 and 2010 Wooden All American, is looking to become only the second four-time Wooden All American pick after averaging 18.9 points and 8.3 rebounds a year ago for the undefeated Huskies. Hayes earned a spot on the list after averaging 10.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in 2009-10. Connecticut is one of six programs to have two student-athletes honored. North Carolina, Ohio State, Stanford, Tennessee and Xavier are the other five.
Transfers, freshmen and medical redshirts are not eligible for the preseason list. 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. 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 All American Team, consisting of the nation’s top five players, will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament.
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, will take place the weekend of April 8-10, 2011.
The ACC and Big East each had five players named to the preseason Top 30. The Big 12, Big 10, Pac-10 and SEC each had three selections, followed by the Atlantic 10 and CAA with two, and the Mid-American, Mountain West, Sun Belt and West Coast with one. Only three sophomores made the list: Baylor’s Brittney Griner, Delaware’s Elena Delle Donne and Skylar Diggins of Notre Dame.
Here’s the full list: Danielle Adams, Texas A&M; Kachine Alexander, Iowa; Angie Bjorklund, Tennessee; Jessica Breland, North Carolina; Elena Delle Donne, Delaware; Skylar Diggins, Notre Dame; Jasmine Dixon, UCLA; Victoria Dunlap, Kentucky; Dawn Evans, James Madison.
Brittney Griner, Baylor; Amber Harris, Xavier; Tiffany Hayes, UConn; Shenise Johnson, Miami; Jantel Lavender, Ohio State; Italee Lucas, North Carolina; Maya Moore, UConn;
Deirdre Naughton, DePaul.
Nnemkadi Ogwumike, Stanford; Kayla Pedersen, Stanford; Ta’Shia Phillips, Xavier; Samantha Prahalis, Ohio State; Lauren Prochaska, Bowling Green; Chastity Reed, Arkansas-Little Rock.
Danielle Robinson, Oklahoma; Sugar Rodgers, Georgetown; Shekinna Stricklen, Tennessee; Helena Sverrisdottir, TCU; Carolyn Swords, Boston College; Jasmine Thomas, Duke; Courtney Vandersloot, Gonzaga
Photo credit: Bettina Hansen, Hartford Courant
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
