March 5, 2007

Wooden Women's Award Official Ballot

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The John R. Wooden Award Committee today announced the National Ballot for the Women's Wooden Award (see below). The official voting ballot includes the top sixteen student-athletes who will contend for this year's player of the year award. The winner will be announced on Saturday April 7 live during a national telecast on CBS from The Los Angeles Athletic Club.

Included on the list are sensational players Lindsey Harding of Duke and Candace Parker of Tennessee. This season Harding has lead the #1 ranked Blue Devils to an undefeated regular season at 29-0. Harding paces Duke with 14.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game. Candace Parker is putting together an amazing sophomore season for the Lady Volunteers. She finished the regular season leading the SEC in scoring (20.6 ppg) and in the top five in rebounding (9.8 rpg).

"The Wooden Award National Advisory Board had an extremely tough task narrowing the list to the top 16 student-athletes this season," said Duke Llewellyn, Wooden Award chairman. "We are very excited to continue watching these players compete over the next few weeks as we determine the five player Wooden Award All-American Team and the Player of the Year."

Seven NCAA conferences are represented on the list, including the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, Pac-10, SEC, and Sun Belt. The best represented conferences include the ACC with five candidates and the SEC which has four candidates. Two schools have multiple players nominated; they are defending National Champion Maryland (Marissa Coleman and Crystal Langhorne), and North Carolina (Erlana Larkins and Ivory Latta).

Two more players to note are Courtney Paris of Oklahoma and Jessica Davenport of Ohio State. Paris is having a season to remember for the Sooners. She has dominated the Big 12 by leading the conference in scoring (23.8 ppg) and rebounding (15.9). Paris posted one of the best games of recent memory in a late December game against New Mexico. She had 43 points and 25 rebounds in the Oklahoma victory. Jessica Davenport ended the regular season leading the Big Ten in scoring (19.4 ppg) while finishing second in rebounding (9.7 rpg). Davenport propelled the Buckeyes to a 15-1 conference mark good enough to win the Big Ten title.

The sixteen student athletes on the national voting ballot have proven to their universities that as well as being amazing players on the court they are also succeeding off the court making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. Over 200 voters, comprised of sports media members and women's college basketball experts across the nation, will have their votes cast by 3 PM EST on March 26, for the five-member All-American team and Wooden Award honor as the most outstanding female collegiate basketball player in the nation.

For the first time in Wooden Award history, college basketball fans will be able to cast their vote for the Wooden Award Player of the Year. All fan votes will be tabulated and counted as one ballot towards the actual final tally. Fans will have the option of voting on WoodenAward.com or by text messaging from their cell phones. All fans who submit votes will be entered into a sweepstakes to win a VIP experience for two at the Wooden Award Presentation Gala. This information and more are available at WoodenAward.com.

On Wednesday, March 28, the five player Women's Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced. 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, 2007. 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.

About the John R. 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 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.

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 award's 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.

For more information on the John R. Wooden Award, please contact 310.578.7050 or via email at dianella@formulapr.com, or visit www.WoodenAward.com.