Fredette Named to Wooden Award Ballot

LOS -- BYU's Jimmer Fredette was one of 26 student-athletes named to the 2010 John R. Wooden Award ballot, announced today at The Los Angeles Athletic Club by the John R. Wooden Award committee.

Fredette was named a midseason candidate in January and has earned numerous awards throughout the season. He was named to the All-Mountain West Conference First Team, USBWA All-District and District VIII Player of the Year. After scoring a record 75 points in two games at the MWC Tournament, including a 45-point effort vs. TCU in the quarterfinals, Fredette was named to the all-tournament team.

The Glens Falls, N.Y., native is 12th in the nation in scoring at 21.7 points per game and adds 4.7 assists while shooting .458 from the field, .448 from three and .896 from the free throw line.

Voters have until 3 p.m. EST on Monday, March 29th to cast their votes, a long voting period that allows Wooden Award voters the unique opportunity to evaluate players up through games of the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. Voters rank players from 10 to 1 to complete the ballot. All 26 players selected to the National Ballot have proven to their universities that they are making progress toward graduation while maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA.

The ballot includes returning Wooden Award All-American Luke Harangody (23.3 ppg, 9.7 rpg) of Notre Dame. The 6-8 forward is a three-time All-Big East selection and the nation’s No. 2 scorer. Kalin Lucas (14.8 ppg, 3.9 ast) of co-Big 10 champions Michigan State, Kyle Singler (17.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg) of ACC regular season champions Duke, and Sherron Collins (15.3 ppg, 4.3 ast) of Big 12 champion Kansas are also on the Wooden Award ballot for the second straight year.

Kansas, Kentucky and Duke, all ranked in the Associated Press Top 5 this week, are the only three schools with two balloted players. Joining Collins from Kansas is 6-11 center Cole Aldrich (11.3 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 3.5 blocks); both players are two-time All-Big 12 selections. Kentucky features the only two freshmen on the list, DeMarcus Cousins (15.6 ppg, 10.1 rpg) and John Wall (16.8 ppg, 6.2 ast). Versatile Jon Scheyer (18.9, 3.5 rpg, 5.2 ast) pairs with Singler on the ballot for the Blue Devils.

The Big East has the most balloted players, with 7 of the 26 total spots. The ACC and Big 12 have four apiece, the SEC and Big 10 have three, the Mountain West two, and the Pac-10, West Coast and Horizon League each have one player chosen to the ballot. Twenty-four of the 26 players on the ballot will be playing in the NCAA Tournament.

Five players made the Wooden Award ballot who were not on the Wooden Award Midseason Top 30 list: Cousins, Lazar Hayward of Marquette, Dominique Jones of South Florida, Jerome Randle of California and Greivis Vasquez of Maryland. Ohio State’s Evan Turner had been out with an injury and was named as an additional player to the midseason list.

The 34th annual Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the announcement of the Men's and Women's Wooden Award winner, and the presentation of the Legends of Coaching Award to Florida’s Billy Donovan, will take place on April 9, 2010.

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 such notables as Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97), and Blake Griffin (’09). Candace Parker (Tennessee) won the Women’s Wooden Award in 2007 and 2008 and Maya Moore (Connecticut) won last year.

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 week-long 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 all-day tournament, which brings together Special Olympic athletes and the All-Americans, takes place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club during the John R. Wooden Award weekend.

Men’s 2010 Wooden Award Ballot
Name              Height   Class   Position   University       Conference
Cole Aldrich       6-11     Jr.       C       Kansas            Big 12
Al-Farouq Aminu    6-9      So.       F       Wake Forest       ACC
James Anderson     6-6      Jr.       G       Oklahoma State    Big 12
Matt Bouldin       6-5      Sr.       G       Gonzaga           WCC
Da’Sean Butler     6-7      Sr.       F       West Virginia     Big East
Sherron Collins    5-11     Jr.       G       Kansas            Big 12
DeMarcus Cousins   6-11     Fr.       F       Kentucky          SEC
Jimmer Fredette    6-2      Jr.       G       Brigham Young     Mountain West
Luke Harangody #$  6-8      Jr.       F       Notre Dame        Big East
Gordon Hayward     6-8      So.      G/F      Butler            Horizon League
Lazar Hayward      6-6      Sr.       F       Marquette         Big East
Darington Hobson   6-7      Jr.      G/F      New Mexico        Mountain West
Robbie Hummel      6-8      Jr.       F       Purdue            Big Ten
Damion James       6-7      Sr.      G/F      Texas             Big 12
Wesley Johnson     6-7      Jr.       F       Syracuse          Big East
Dominique Jones    6-4      Jr.       G       South Florida     Big East
Kalin Lucas        6-0      Jr.       G       Michigan State    Big Ten
Greg Monroe        6-11     So.       C       Georgetown        Big East
Jerome Randle      5-10     Sr.       G       California        Pac-10
Scottie Reynolds   6-2      Jr.       G       Villanova         Big East
Jon Scheyer        6-5      Sr.       G       Duke              ACC
Kyle Singler       6-8      Jr.       F       Duke              ACC
Evan Turner        6-7      Jr.      G/F      Ohio State        Big Ten
Jarvis Varnado     6-9      Sr.      F/C      Mississippi State SEC
Greivis Vasquez    6-6      Sr.       G       Maryland          ACC
John Wall          6-4      Fr.       G       Kentucky          SEC
$ 2009 Wooden All-American Team
# 2008 Wooden All American Team