Maya Moore Wins Second Wooden Award

Los Angeles (April 8, 2011) – Maya Moore of Connecticut was presented the John R. Wooden Award as the women’s collegiate basketball player of the year at The Los Angeles Athletic Club this evening. Mark Llewellyn, son of Wooden Award Co-Founder Richard “Duke” Llewellyn, made the announcement and conferred Moore with the Wooden Award trophy whose unique design was inspired by Coach Wooden’s idea of the “total basketball player.” The 35th annual Wooden Award is the first since the passing of both Coach Wooden and Duke Llewellyn in June of 2010.

Moore finished her career UConn’s all-time leading scorer, with 3,036 career points. She also ranks second in school history in made three-pointers (311) and rebounds (1,276). In 2011, she averaged 22.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 4.0 assists. In her career, Moore led UConn to four straight Final Fours and two national titles, while serving as an integral part of her team’s historic 90-game win streak that spanned three seasons. Her team won 150 of the 154 games it played during her career. She is a four-time Academic All-American as well.

Voters included several hundred members of the women’s college basketball media who selected and ranked five players. Moore garnered 678 points, followed by Brittney Griner of Baylor with 566; Courtney Vandersloot of Gonzaga with 283; Stanford’s Jeanette Pohlen with 198; and Pohlen’s Cardinal teammate, Nnemkadi Ogwumike with 185. Moore, Griner, and Ogwumike attended the Wooden Award Gala. Vandersloot and Pohlen were obligated to the WNBA for draft preparations and could not attend.

Moore is the third two-time Wooden Award winner on the women’s side. Seimone Augustus of LSU won the Award in 2006 and 2007, while Tennessee’s Candace Parker won in 2008 and 2009. She is the third straight winner from Connecticut; she won in 2009, and her former teammate Tina Charles won a year ago. Moore finished second in the voting in 2010 by a single point. Moore is also the second four-time Wooden All American; Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris (2006-09) is the other.

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All players proved to their universities that they are making progress toward graduation and are maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA. Voters were asked to take into account performance during the regular season and postseason through the Elite Eight as well as a player’s character and academic performance, essential components of an outstanding player. The winner received a contribution from The Los Angeles Athletic Club for their university’s general scholarship fund.

In addition to honoring the Wooden All American teams, the “Legends of Coaching” Award was presented by Nan Wooden Muehlhausen, Coach Wooden’s daughter, to Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo, who led the Spartans to their 14th straight NCAA Tournament appearance this year. Previous Wooden Award winners include such notables as Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97), Candace Parker (’08, ’09) and Blake Griffin (’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 weeklong 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 tournament, which brings together Special Olympic athletes and the All Americans, takes place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club tomorrow morning.

Women’s John R. Wooden Award All-Time Winners