March 24, 2006

LOS ANGELES - The John R. Wooden Award today announced it has partnered with Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) to host the inaugural Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament on Friday, April 7, from 4-7 p.m., at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. The tournament will take place prior to Saturday's John R. Wooden Award Ceremony, which will air live on a national CBS Sports telecast at 2 p.m. EST.

"The Wooden Award has always held youth or charity events in conjunction with the award weekend, but this year we wanted to create further enthusiasm surrounding the award and local community by partnering with Special Olympics Southern California," said Mike Solum, Director of the John R. Wooden Award. "We're thrilled that SOSC is teaming up with this year's men's and women's Wooden Award All-Americans for an incredibly unique and exciting event."

The Wooden Award court will play host to a Special Olympics Southern California basketball tournament featuring some of the state's top Special Olympics athletes coached by 2005-06 Wooden Award All-Americans (men and women). Four teams will take part in the tournament, including three local SOSC teams and the SOSC National Team as they prepare for the 2006 Special Olympics National Games in Ames, Iowa, July 1-8. Each SOSC athlete will receive a trophy and a jersey.

"Special Olympics Southern California is grateful to the Los Angeles Athletic Club and the John R. Wooden Award for inviting our athletes to participate in this very special event and ceremony," said Bill Shumard, President and CEO of Special Olympics Southern California. "The opportunity for SOSC to participate is invaluable. Our goal is to double the number of athletes served within a five year span. With the help of friends and organizations like the LAAC this goal can be accomplished. Our current and future athletes deserve the very best."

The 2006 Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the presentation of the Men's and Women's Wooden Award, the Wooden Award All-American Teams, and Legends of Coaching Award recipient Jim Boeheim of Syracuse University, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on April 8, 2006. The top five male and female 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.

For more information on the John R. Wooden Award, please contact Formula at 310.578.7050 or visit www.WoodenAward.com.

About Special Olympics Southern California
Special Olympics Southern California serves more than 10,000 athletes, ages 8-80, with intellectual disabilities. SOSC, one of 52 accredited Special Olympics entities operating in the United States, offers year-round sports training and competition in 23 individual and team sports throughout 11 counties. Special Olympics, Inc. is the largest sports organization in the world. Special Olympics programs serve more than one million athletes in the United States, and thousands more athletes in more than 150 countries. Visit www.sosc.org for more information.

About the Wooden Award
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/her university that he/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), and last year's recipients, Andrew Bogut and Seimone Augustus.