The top 50 preseason candidates for the Men’s 2007-08 John R. Wooden Award, the nation’s most coveted college basketball award, were announced today by The Los Angeles Athletic Club’s Wooden Award Committee (see attached).  The Award is named for the three-time college basketball All American, 1932 Player of the Year and ten-time national championship coach at UCLA.

“The committee had a tough time deciding on just 50 candidates, with so many returning talented players across the country,” said Duke Llewellyn, Wooden Award chairman.  “Some teams even had several worthy candidates.  Our team at the John R. Wooden Award is excited to see the best players in the nation compete against each other all season, as they vie to be named college basketball’s player of the year.”

 Two returning Wooden All-Americans made the list, center Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina and Kansas guard Brandon Rush.  Five schools had two players on the list: UCLA (Darren Collison, Josh Shipp), North Carolina (Hansbrough, Ty Lawson), Kansas (Mario Chalmers, Rush), Washington State (Derrick Low, Kyle Weaver), Georgetown (Roy Hibbert, Johnathan Wallace).  More than 100 players received at least one vote.

 Hansbrough averages 18.6 points per game for his career and reached the 1,000-point plateau as a sophomore last year.  A 6-6 guard, Rush led the Jayhawks in scoring the last two seasons.  Georgetown’s pair of candidates played in last year’s Final Four, as did UCLA’s duo.

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