LOS ANGELES — Sylvia Fowles, a center for LSU’s women’s basketball team, is one of five finalists for the 2007 John R. Wooden Women’s Award that will be announced on Saturday in front of a live national television audience.
The Women’s Wooden Award Player of the Year will be announced on Saturday, April 7, live during a national telecast on CBS Sports from The Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC) at 1 p.m. CDT.
A panel consisting of more than 200 voters including sports media and college basketball experts from across the nation had until Monday, March 26 to cast their votes for both the five player All-American Team and the Women’s Wooden Award Player of the Year as the most outstanding collegiate basketball player in the nation. In addition to on-court performance, voters were asked to base their votes on the student athlete’s character and academic performance, essential components of the Wooden Award.
Fowles is one of five finalists along with Lindsey Harding of Duke, North Carolina’s Ivory Latta, Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris and Tennessee’s Candace Parker.
Fowles, who was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference performer and a Kodak, ESPN.com and United States Basketball Writers Association All-American, averaged 16.9 points and 12.6 rebounds this past season and shot 58.0 percent from the field.
The Miami, Fla., native was also named the Fresno Regional Most Outstand Player after a two-game average of 21.5 points and 12.0 rebounds in Fresno, including a 23-point, 15 rebound and six blocked shots performance in the victory over Connecticut in the regional final.
Fowles collected 26 double doubles in 38 games this season and averaged 18.0 points and 13.5 rebounds in 12 games against top 25 opponents, including four 20-plus point games.
For the first time in Wooden Award history, college basketball fans were able to cast their vote for the Wooden Award Player of the Year. Fans had the option of voting online at www.WoodenAward.com or by text messaging. Nearly 50,000 fans cast their vote and over 19,900 of those were cast for the Women’s Wooden Award Player of the Year. With 6,200 votes, Candace Parker of Tennessee finished as the fan’s choice for Women’s Wooden Award. The rest of the fan’s top five includes Harding, Fowles, Latta and Ole Miss’ Armintie Price.
The 2007 Award ceremony, which will include the presentation of the Men’s and Women’s Wooden Award, the Wooden Award All-American Teams, and the Legends of Coaching Award to recipient Gene Keady of Purdue University, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on April 7. The top five female and male finalists will be invited to Los Angeles for the awards ceremony and will receive a contribution from The Los Angeles Athletic Club for their university’s general scholarship fund.
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation’s best player at an institution of higher education who has proven to his or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include such notables as Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97), Andrew Bogut (’05), and last year’s recipients, Seimone Augustus (’06) and J.J. Redick (’06).
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed close to a million dollars to universities’ general scholarship fund in the names of the All-American recipients as well as sent over 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps in the awards name. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament, which brings together Special Olympic athletes and the All-American selections, takes place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on the Friday prior to the John R. Wooden Award Ceremony.
Women’s Wooden Award Finalists
(Players listed alphabetically)
Sylvia Fowles 6’6″ Jr. C LSU
Lindsey Harding 5’8″ Sr. G Duke
Ivory Latta* 5’6″ Sr. G North Carolina
Courtney Paris* 6’4″ So. C Oklahoma
Candace Parker 6’4″ So. F/C/G Tennessee
*Indicates player was a 2005-2006 Wooden Award All-American