James Johnson Named to Wooden Award Preseason List
11/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 7, 2008
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest sophomore forward James Johnson has been named a preseason candidate for the John R. Wooden Award, which goes annually to college basketball's top player.
The preseason list is comprised of 50 players, including eight from the Atlantic Coast Conference. Johnson is Wake Forest's first Wooden Award candidate since Justin Gray and Eric Williams in 2005-06. Demon Deacon All-American Tim Duncan won the Wooden Award in 1997.
Johnson is the Deacons' leading returning scorer and rebounder this season. The Cheyenne, Wyo. native was named third team All-ACC and was runner-up in balloting for the ACC Rookie of the Year Award in 2007-08. He also was a unanimous selection to the ACC All-Freshman Team and was named a Freshman All-American by multiple publications.
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.
In all, 42 schools and 13 conferences are represented on the Wooden Award Preseason list. Leading the way is the Big East (12), followed by the ACC (8), Pac-10 (5), SEC (5), Big 12 (5), Atlantic-10 (2), Big Ten (3), Conference USA (3), Mountain West (2), West Coast (2), Colonial Athletic Association (1), Ohio Valley (1) and the Southern Conference (1).
In mid-January, the Wooden Award Committee will release the Midseason Top 30 list, followed in March by the National Ballot, consisting of approximately 20 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also 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.
The 33rd annual Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the announcement of the Men's and Women's Wooden Award, and the presentation of the Wooden Award All-American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award to Rick Barnes from The University of Texas, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club in April, 2009.
