LOS ANGELES — Seimone Augustus, a junior on LSU’s Final Four Lady Tigers basketball team, was selected as one of five John R. Wooden Women’s All-Americans, making her a finalist for the Women’s Wooden Award, it was announced by the award committee on Thursday.
Augustus, a Baton Rouge native, has helped LSU (33-2) the program reach its second straight NCAA Final Four. The 6-1 guard is averaging 20.1 points per game overall and 19.9 points in the tournament, including scoring a game-high 24 in the Lady Tigers’ victory over Duke in the Chattanooga Regional final on Monday night. For her efforts she was named the Regional Most Outstanding Player.
“This is yet another remarkable and well deserved testament to Seimone’s extraordinary talent, work ethic, and leadership as a student-athlete,” LSU head coach Pokey Chatman said. “When I think about Coach John Wooden and how he coached the game, it is poetic justice that Seimone is among the very best of a new generation of basketball with her “old school” fundamental, unselfish game. We, the Lady Tigers, LSU athletics, and the state of Louisiana are very proud of her and what she represents.”
The Wooden Award All-America team is the third organization to honor Augustus as an All-American, joining the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) and the Associated Press. Augustus was also named the National Player of the Year by the USBWA.
By being one of the final Wooden Award All-Americans, Augustus and fellow finalists Monique Currie of Duke, Ohio State’s Jessica Davenport, Minnesota’s Janel McCarville and Kansas State’s Kendra Wecker, are invited to Los Angeles for the 29th annual Wooden Award Ceremony on April 9 at Noon CST broadcast live on CBS from The Los Angeles Athletic Club.
“We are delighted to recognize this fantastic group of women for their many remarkable accomplishments this season,” said Mike Solum, director of the Wooden Award. “It will be interesting to see which of these five talented players takes home the Wooden Award trophy.”
During the “John R. Wooden Award Show Presented by TIAA-CREF” the winner of both the Men’s Wooden Award and the Women’s Wooden Award will be announced.
The top five finalists will receive a contribution from the John R. Wooden Award Scholarship Fund for their university’s general scholarship fund.
The Wooden Award Scholarship Fund was established in 2002 by Applied Materials and corporate partners through the California Community Foundation (CCF) to honor Coach Wooden’s dedication as an educator and mentor. The Scholarship Fund distributed $15,000 last year to each university represented by a men’s and women’s Wooden Award All-American Team finalist (for a total of $150,000). Additional donations to Applied Materials’ John R. Wooden Award Scholarship Fund can be made by contacting the scholarship fund through the CCF (www.calfund.org).