LOS ANGELES — LSU senior forward Tasmin Mitchell was among a group of top college basketball players named Wednesday as preseason candidates for the John R. Wooden Award All-American Team and Player of the Year trophy announced by Richard “Duke” Llewellyn, Wooden Award Chairman and founder.
The list is comprised of 50 student-athletes who, based on last year’s individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college basketball’s most prestigious honor.
Transfers, freshmen and medical redshirts are not eligible for the preseason list. These players and others who excel throughout the season will be evaluated and considered for December’s midseason list and the official voting ballot released in March.
Eleven conferences are represented on the Wooden Award preseason list. Leading the way is the Big East (11), followed by the ACC (10), Big 10 (8), SEC (7), Big 12 (6), Pac-10 (3) and Atlantic 10, CAA< Horizon, WAC and West Coast with one apiece.
Mitchell was a first-team All-SEC selection a year ago as he helped the Tigers to the 2009 Southeastern Conference championship after sitting out the 2008 season with an injury. The Denham Springs, La., native averaged 16.3 points per game and 7.2 rebounds, while hitting 52.2 percent from the field. Mitchell had 41 points in a double-overtime win at Mississippi State and hit the three-pointer with less than 10 seconds left at Kentucky to clinch the SEC regular season title for the Tigers.
When the list gets to the national ballot in match, the top 20 players on the list must also be making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. The Wooden Award All-American team will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round during the NCAA Tournament.