LOS ANGELES — Southeastern Conference Player of the Year Marcus Thornton was named a finalist for the Wooden Award, announced Thursday by the presenting Los Angeles Athletic Club.
Thornton and the 16th-ranked LSU Tigers open SEC Tournament play at 1 p.m. EDT (Noon CDT) in Tampa, Fla., at the St. Pete Times Forum against the Kentucky Wildcats and another Wooden finalist, Jodie Meeks. A third finalist from the SEC is Florida’s Nick Calathes.
Thornton averaged 20.9 points per game this season in leading the Tigers to a 13-3 conference record and the regular season champion. Thornton during the season became the first player since 1995 to have back-to-back 30-point games earlier in the year.
Also named finalists: Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson of North Carolina, Stephen Curry of Davidson, Luke Harangody of Notre Dame, DeJuan Blair and Sam Young of Pittsburgh, Gerald Henderson and Kyle Singler of Duke, Tyreke Evans of Memphis, A. J. Abrams of Texas, Jon Brockman of Washington, Sherron Collins of Kansas, Darren Collison of UCLA, Blake Griffin of Oklahoma, James Harden of Arizona State, Jordan Hill of Arizona, Kalin Lucas of Michigan State, Jerel McNeal of Marquette, Jeff Teague of Wake Forest, Hasheem Thabeet of Connecticut and Terrence Williams of Louisville.
A national panel of more than 1,000 voters has until March 30 to cast ballots, allowing players to be considered through the final eight of the NCAA tournament.
The award will be presented April 10 at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Rick Barnes of Texas will receive the Legends of Coaching award. Glen Davis was the last LSU player to make the first-team Wooden America team in 2006.