Thabeet Named 2008-09 Wooden All-American

The honors keep rolling in for UConn Huskies junior center Hasheem Thabeet as today he was named to the John R. Wooden 2008-09 All-America Team.

Thabeet was one of 11 players selected to the team and a total of 5 players from the Big East Conference were selected.

Here is the full release:

LOS ANGELES – The 2009 John R. Wooden Award All American Team was announced today by the John R. Wooden Award Committee. The 33rd annual Wooden Award ceremony will take place on Friday, April 10 at The Los Angeles Athletic Club.

A panel of more than 1,000 voters, comprised of sports media members and college basketball experts from around the nation, had until Monday to cast their votes, a long voting period that allowed voters to evaluate players up through games of the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. Voters selected 10 players from the 24 student athletes listed on the ballot, and ranked them from 1 to 10. Wooden Award Voters were asked to take into account performance during the regular season and postseason through games last Sunday, as well as a player’s character and academic performance, essential components of an outstanding player in the eyes of Coach John Wooden.

“Each of these players has produced results both on the court and in the classroom, exemplifying all of the qualities that we search for in our All American team members,” said Richard “Duke” Llewellyn, founder and chairman of the Wooden Award. “We feel tremendously proud to have these student athletes representing the 2009 Wooden Award All American Team.”

Returning Wooden Award winner, Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina headlines the eleven man team. Joining him on this years All American Team are two more players preparing for the Final Four this weekend, Connecticut’s Hasheem Thabeet, and Hansbrough’s teammate, Tarheel point guard Ty Lawson.

Because of a tie for 10th place in the voting, this year the Wooden All American Team consists of 11 players. Rounding out the list in alphabetical order are DeJuan Blair (Pittsburgh), Stephen Curry (Davidson), Blake Griffin (Oklahoma), Luke Harangody (Notre Dame), James Harden (Arizona State), Gerald Henderson (Duke), Terrence Williams (Louisville) and Sam Young (Pittsburgh). Curry and Harangody were selected to the 2008 All American Team.

North Carolina and Pittsburgh both had two players selected to the team. The 2009 All American team features three seniors (Hansbrough, Williams and Young) five juniors, and three sophomores. The Big East tops the list with five Wooden All Americans, followed by the ACC with three. The Pac-10, Southern and Big 12 each have one representative.

Additionally, the top vote-getters and finalists for the Wooden Award, are invited to Los Angeles for the Wooden Award gala. The top finalists will be announced on Monday, April 6. The 2009 Award ceremony, which will include the presentation of the Men’s and Women’s Wooden Award winners, the Wooden Award All American Teams, and the Legends of Coaching Award to Rick Barnes of the University of Texas, will take place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club in Downtown Los Angeles on Friday, April 10th. The final vote tally will be released that night as well. The winners will receive a contribution from The Los Angeles Athletic Club for their university’s general scholarship fund. The Women’s Wooden All American team will be announced tomorrow, Thursday, April 2.

About the John R. 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 Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), and Tim Duncan (’97), Kevin Durant of Texas (’07) and Candace Parker of Tennessee (’07 and ’08).

Tickets for the Wooden Award Gala are on sale now and may be obtained by calling The Los Angeles Athletic Club at (213) 630-5255. For up to date information on all of the Wooden Award candidates, please go to www.woodenaward.com.