Simmons On Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 List

BATON ROUGE – LSU freshman sensation Ben Simmons is one of 20 players named to the 2016 John Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 list, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced on Wednesday on ESPNU and ESPN.com 

The Last Season Top 20 list was done as an effort to further pare down the list of outstanding players that were originally listed as candidates for the prestigious John Wooden Award. 

Simmons, has 16 double-doubles and scored in double-figures in 18 straight contests, leads the Tigers with 19.4 points and 12.3 rebounds a contest. He was named the Wayman Tisdale National Freshman of the Week on Tuesday after leading LSU to wins over Auburn and Mississippi State last week. 

Simmons is one of two Southeastern Conference players on the list, joining Kentucky’s Tyler Ulis among the 20 finalists. 

Voting begins at the end of the season, and voters, consisting of nearly 1,000 members of the national college basketball media, will take into account the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

 

No university is represented on the Late Season Top 20 with more than one player. The ACC and the Big 12 lead the conference tally with four selections each, followed by the Big Ten with three, the Pac-12 and SEC with two each, and the Big East, The American, Horizon, Missouri Valley and WCC with one selection each.

 

The 40th annual presentation of the John R. Wooden Award® will be the anchor presentation of the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show presented by Wendy’s®. The men’s and women’s John R. Wooden All-American Teams will be honored during the ceremony, as well as the 2016 Legends of Coaching Award™, which will be presented to Tubby Smith, Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Texas Tech. The event will take place the weekend of April 7-9, 2016.

 

Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award® program features the most prestigious individual honors in college basketball. The Wooden Award Trophy is bestowed annually upon the nation’s best male player and female player who has proven to their respective universities that they are making progress toward graduation while maintaining a minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include such notables as Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97), Candace Parker (’07 and ’08), Kevin Durant (’09), Maya Moore (’09 and ’11), Trey Burke (’13) and Doug McDermott (’14). Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky won the 2015 men’s Wooden Award presented by Wendy’s and Breanna Stewart of Connecticut won the 2015 women’s Wooden Award.

 

Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award® has contributed close to a million dollars to the general scholarship fund of the honoree’s University in the name of the All-American recipient. The Award has also enabled more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long basketball camps in the Award’s name. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with the Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament takes place at the Los Angeles Athletic Club the weekend of the John R. Wooden Award® presentation, and brings together Special Olympics athletes and the Wooden Award All-Americans.

 

Fans can follow the candidates en route to the Wooden Award presentation and get the latest news throughout the season by liking the Wooden Award Facebook page or following @WoodenAward on Twitter and Instagram. For more information on the John R. Wooden Award, please contact Ernest Baskerville at 213-630-5231 or via email at woodenaward@laac.net.

2016 John Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 List 

Grayson Allen, Duke, ACC, 6-5, Soph., G

Malcolm Brogdon#, Virginia, ACC, 6-5, Sr., G

Kris Dunn, Providence, Big East, 6-4, Jr., G

Perry Ellis, Kansas, Big 12, 6-8, Sr., F

Kahlil Felder, Oakland, Horizon, 5-9, Jr., G

Yogi Ferrell, Indiana, Big Ten, 6-0, Sr., G

Buddy Hield, Oklahoma, Big 12, 6-4, Sr., G

Brice Johnson, North Carolina, ACC, 6-10, Sr., F

Damion Lee, Louisville, ACC, 6-6, Sr., G

Nic Moore, SMU, The American, 5-9, Sr., G

Georges Niang, Iowa State, Big 12, 6-8, Sr., F

Gary Payton II, Oregon State, Pac-12, 6-3, Sr., G

Jakob Poeltl, Utah, Pac-12, 7-0, Soph., F

Melo Trimble, Maryland, Big Ten, 6-3, Soph., G

Tyler UlisKentucky, SEC, 5-9, Sr., G

Jarrod Uthoff, Iowa, Big Ten, 6-9, Sr., F

Denzel Valentine, Michigan State, Big Ten, 6-5, Sr., G

Fred VanVleet, Wichita State, Missouri Valley, 6-0, Sr., G

Kyle Wiltjer#, Gonzaga, WCC, 6-10, Sr., F