LOS ANGELES, CA -- Texas A&M senior Acie Law IV is one of five finalists for the John R. Wooden Player of the Year award, the Wooden Award Committee announced on Tuesday.
The finalists are invited to the 31st Annual Wooden Award presentation on April 7 at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. The event will be televised
nationally by CBS Sports at 1 p.m. (CDT).
The committee also named Law to the 10-member Wooden Award All-American Team. Law led A&M to the Sweet 16, averaging 18.1 points per game.
The Wooden Award finalists and All-America team were chosen by a panel of more than 1,000 voters, including sports media and college basketball experts from across the nation. In addition to on-court performance, voters were asked to base their votes largely on the student-athlete¹s character and academic performance.
Joining Law as Wooden Award All-Americans are Arron Afflalo (UCLA), Aaron Brooks (Oregon), Kevin Durant (Texas), Nick Fazekas (Nevada), Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina), Joakim Noah (Florida), Greg Oden (Ohio State), Brandon Rush (Kansas) and Alando Tucker (Wisconsin).
In total, four seniors, two juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen were selected to the Wooden Award All-American Team. Six conferences are represented, led by the Big 12 with three players, followed by the Pac 10 and the Big Ten with two candidates a piece, and the ACC, SEC and WAC all with one representative.
Other finalists are Durant, Hansbrough, Oden and Tucker.
³The finalists are a talented bunch and all well-deserving of the award,"
said Duke Llewellyn, founder and chairman of the Wooden Award. "Each one would represent the award well as they¹ve lead their teams to successful seasons while also achieving greatness off the court. The anticipation is building and we look forward to the ceremony and the crowning of this year¹s Wooden Award Player of the Year.²
The 2007 award ceremony will include the presentation of the Men¹s and Women¹s Wooden Award, the Wooden Award All-American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award to Gene Keady of Purdue. The finalists also will receive a contribution from The Los Angeles Athletic Club for their university's general scholarship fund.
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is awarded to the nation¹s best player 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 (¹79), Michael Jordan (¹84), Tim Duncan (¹97), Andrew Bogut (¹05), and last year¹s recipients, Seimone Augustus (¹06) and J.J. Redick (¹06).
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed close to one million dollars to universities¹ general scholarship funds in the names of the All-American recipients. In addition, it has sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps in the awards name.
Wooden Award All-American Team
Arron Afflalo 6¹5² Jr. G UCLA
Aaron Brooks 6'0" Sr. G Oregon
Kevin Durant 6¹9² Fr. G/F Texas
Nick Fazekas 6¹11² Sr. F Nevada
Tyler Hansbrough6¹9² So. F North Carolina
Acie Law 6¹3² Sr. G Texas A&M
Joakim Noah 6¹11² Jr. F/C Florida
Greg Oden 7¹0² Fr. C Ohio State
Brandon Rush 6¹6² So. G Kansas
Alando Tucker 6¹6² Sr. F Wisconsin
Wooden Award Finalists
Kevin Durant 6¹9² Fr. G/F Texas
Tyler Hansbrough 6¹9² So. F North Carolina
Acie Law 6¹3² Sr. G Texas A&M
Greg Oden 7¹0² Fr. C Ohio State
Alando Tucker 6¹6² Sr. F Wisconsin
