Wake Forest Athletics
Al-Farouq Aminu Named Preseason Candidate for Wooden Award
8/19/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Aug. 19, 2009
2009-10 Wooden Award Preseason Candidates 
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest sophomore forward Al-Farouq Aminu has been named a preseason candidate for the 2009-10 John R. Wooden Award, which goes annually to college basketball's top player.
The preseason list is comprised of 50 players, including 10 from the Atlantic Coast Conference. Last season, guard Jeff Teague was a chosen as a finalist for the Wooden Award. Demon Deacon All-American Tim Duncan won the Wooden Award in 1997.
Aminu enters the 2009-10 campaign as the Deacons' leading returning scorer and rebounder. The Norcross, Ga. native averaged 12.9 points and 8.2 rebounds as a freshman in 2008-09. Aminu was a unanimous selection to the ACC All-Freshman Team and was tabbed by multiple publications as the top rookie in the conference last year.
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, 11 conferences are represented on the Wooden Award Preseason list. Leading the way is the Big East (11), followed by the ACC (10), Big 10 (8), SEC (7), Big 12 (6), Pac-10 (3) and Atlantic 10, CAA, Horizon, WAC and West Coast with one apiece.
In late December, 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 34th annual Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the announcement of the Men's and Women's Wooden Award winner, and the presentation of the Wooden Award All-American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, will take place the weekend of April 9-11, 2010.
