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Morales named preseason Wooden candidate
by: Joel Carlson of the UM Sports Information Department
Wednesday, 10/31/2007
The John R. Wooden Award Committee announced Wednesday that University of Montana junior Mandy Morales is one of 30 preseason candidates for the annual national player of the year award. The award is named for the three-time college basketball All-American, the 1932 player of the year and a ten-time national championship coach at UCLA.
Morales was the Big Sky Conference MVP as a sophomore and has earned Kodak honorable mention All-America honors in her first two seasons at Montana. She was also one of 11 finalists for the 2007 Nancy Lieberman Award, which recognizes the nation's top Division I point guard.
The preseason watch list is made up of 30 players, based on 2006-07 individual performances and team records. While those 30 are the front-runners for the trophy, transfers, freshmen and medical redshirts become eligible for both January's top 20 list and the eventual national ballot.
Three of this year's preseason candidates were honored last season as members of the Wooden Award All-America team, including 2007 Wooden Award winner Candace Parker of Tennessee, Oklahoma's Courtney Paris and LSU's Sylvia Fowles. Parker was the MVP of the 2007 Final Four, leading Tennessee to the 2007 NCAA title.
Three schools had three players on the list: Rutgers (Matee Ajavon, Essence Carson, Kia Vaughn), Tennessee (Parker, Alexis Hornbuckle, Nicky Anosike) and Maryland (Marissa Coleman, Crystal Langhorne, Kristi Toliver). Stanford (Candice Wiggins, Jayne Appel) and Connecticut (Tina Charles, Renee Montgomery) had two players each.
Voting on the national ballot is done by over 200 voters. The voting group is made up of sports media members and women's college basketball experts from across the nation. They will determine the five-member All-America team and the Wooden Award winner.
About the John R. Wooden Award: Created in 1976, the 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 proved to his or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed close to a million dollars to universities' general scholarship funds in the names of the All-America recipients and has sent over 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps in the Award's name.
John R. Wooden Award Preseason Candidates
Matee Ajavon, Sr., Rutgers
Charel Allen, Sr., Notre Dame
Jolene Anderson, Sr.,Wisconsin
Nicky,Anosike, Sr., Tennessee
Jayne Appel, So., Stanford
Kimberly Beck, Sr., George Washington
Tina Charles, So., Connecticut
Marissa Coleman, Jr., Maryland
Allyssa DeHaan, So., Michigan State
Essence Carson, Sr., Rutgers
Sylvia Fowles, Sr., LSU
Devanei Hampton, Jr., California
Amber Harris, So., Xavier
Alexis Hornbuckle, Sr., Tennessee
Tasha Humphrey, Sr., Georgia
Crystal Kelly, Sr., Western Kentucky
Crystal Langhorne, Sr., Maryland
Erlana Larkins, Sr., North Carolina
Angel McCoughtry, Jr., Louisville
Renee Montgomery, Jr., Connecticut
Mandy Morales, Jr., Montana
Marscilla Packer, Sr., Ohio State
Courtney Paris, Jr., Oklahoma
Candace Parker, Jr., Tennessee
Takia Starks, So., Texas A&M
Kristi Toliver, Jr., Maryland
Kia Vaughn, Jr., Rutgers
Mercedes Walker, Sr., Pittsburgh
Abby Waner, Jr., Duke
Candice Wiggins, Sr., Stanford
by: Joel Carlson of the UM Sports Information Department
Wednesday, 10/31/2007
The John R. Wooden Award Committee announced Wednesday that University of Montana junior Mandy Morales is one of 30 preseason candidates for the annual national player of the year award. The award is named for the three-time college basketball All-American, the 1932 player of the year and a ten-time national championship coach at UCLA.
Morales was the Big Sky Conference MVP as a sophomore and has earned Kodak honorable mention All-America honors in her first two seasons at Montana. She was also one of 11 finalists for the 2007 Nancy Lieberman Award, which recognizes the nation's top Division I point guard.
The preseason watch list is made up of 30 players, based on 2006-07 individual performances and team records. While those 30 are the front-runners for the trophy, transfers, freshmen and medical redshirts become eligible for both January's top 20 list and the eventual national ballot.
Three of this year's preseason candidates were honored last season as members of the Wooden Award All-America team, including 2007 Wooden Award winner Candace Parker of Tennessee, Oklahoma's Courtney Paris and LSU's Sylvia Fowles. Parker was the MVP of the 2007 Final Four, leading Tennessee to the 2007 NCAA title.
Three schools had three players on the list: Rutgers (Matee Ajavon, Essence Carson, Kia Vaughn), Tennessee (Parker, Alexis Hornbuckle, Nicky Anosike) and Maryland (Marissa Coleman, Crystal Langhorne, Kristi Toliver). Stanford (Candice Wiggins, Jayne Appel) and Connecticut (Tina Charles, Renee Montgomery) had two players each.
Voting on the national ballot is done by over 200 voters. The voting group is made up of sports media members and women's college basketball experts from across the nation. They will determine the five-member All-America team and the Wooden Award winner.
About the John R. Wooden Award: Created in 1976, the 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 proved to his or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed close to a million dollars to universities' general scholarship funds in the names of the All-America recipients and has sent over 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps in the Award's name.
John R. Wooden Award Preseason Candidates
Matee Ajavon, Sr., Rutgers
Charel Allen, Sr., Notre Dame
Jolene Anderson, Sr.,Wisconsin
Nicky,Anosike, Sr., Tennessee
Jayne Appel, So., Stanford
Kimberly Beck, Sr., George Washington
Tina Charles, So., Connecticut
Marissa Coleman, Jr., Maryland
Allyssa DeHaan, So., Michigan State
Essence Carson, Sr., Rutgers
Sylvia Fowles, Sr., LSU
Devanei Hampton, Jr., California
Amber Harris, So., Xavier
Alexis Hornbuckle, Sr., Tennessee
Tasha Humphrey, Sr., Georgia
Crystal Kelly, Sr., Western Kentucky
Crystal Langhorne, Sr., Maryland
Erlana Larkins, Sr., North Carolina
Angel McCoughtry, Jr., Louisville
Renee Montgomery, Jr., Connecticut
Mandy Morales, Jr., Montana
Marscilla Packer, Sr., Ohio State
Courtney Paris, Jr., Oklahoma
Candace Parker, Jr., Tennessee
Takia Starks, So., Texas A&M
Kristi Toliver, Jr., Maryland
Kia Vaughn, Jr., Rutgers
Mercedes Walker, Sr., Pittsburgh
Abby Waner, Jr., Duke
Candice Wiggins, Sr., Stanford
