LOS ANGELES — Seimone Augustus has now won every prestigious national award this season after being named the 2005 John R. Wooden Women’s Award winner on Saturday morning during a live televised awards show at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
Augustus, a 6-1 guard for the Final Four participant LSU Lady Tigers’ basketball team, was one of five finalists on hand for the show aired live on CBS. The Baton Rouge native received the award over Duke’s Monique Currie, Ohio State’s Jessica Davenport, Minnesota’s Janel McCarville and Kansas State’s Kendra Wecker.
“This is one of the top awards in the nation,” Augustus said. “It has John Wooden’s name on it and to receive this award in his honor is one of the proudest moments of my career, but I know this would not be possible without the help of my teammates and coaches.”
Augustus also received the National Player of the Year award from Naismith, the United States Basketball Writers Association and the Associated Press, and won the State Farm Wade Trophy as the top player in the country.
During the 2004-05 season, Augustus led LSU to a 33-3 record and the second straight trip to the NCAA Final Four. She averaged 20.1 points and 4.5 rebounds on her way to being named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year.
Coach Wooden, who was not able to attend the live award show, will be at the banquet in Los Angeles on Saturday night where, Augustus and Men’s Wooden Award winner, Andrew Bogut of Utah, will be able to meet the legendary coach.
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. WoodenAward Scholarship Fund can be made by contacting the scholarship fund through the CCF (www.calfund.org).