LSU freshman Ben Simmons is ineligible for the Wooden Award because he didn’t meet the necessary requirements, according to a report from ESPN’s Jeff Goodman.
It has been widely reported that Simmons lacked the necessary 2.0 GPA to be eligible for the award.
“From what I was told, he didn’t meet all of the requirements,” Tigers coach Johnny Jones told ESPN. “He wasn’t certified by the school to be on the ballot.”
“He did not meet the criteria at this point in the process to continue,” LSU spokesman Kent Lowe told SNY.tv.
The projected No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft, Simmons is averaging 19.7 points, 11.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists.
Simmons was listed among 20 finalists for the Wooden Award on a release sent out Feb. 10. The award’s 15 finalists were announced Saturday (the list is below). The winner will be named April 8.
No freshmen made the list of 15 finalists.
Also on Saturday, ESPN’s Linda Cohn said on air that a former Nike executive told ESPN that Simmons could sign a sneaker deal worth an estimated $100 million.
This figure was first reported earlier in the week by SNY.tv, via an industry source and legendary grassroots sneaker guru Sonny Vaccaro. ESPN did not credit SNY in its report.
2016 WOODEN AWARD FINALISTS
Brice Johnson, North Carolina
Buddy Hield, Oklahoma
Denzel Valentine, Michigan State
Georges Niang, Iowa State
Grayson Allen, Duke
Jakob Poeltl, Utah
Jarrod Uthoff, Iowa
Josh Hart, Villanova
Kay Felder, Oakland
Kris Dunn, Providence
Malcolm Brogdon, Virginia
Melo Trimble, Maryland
Perry Ellis, Kansas
Tyler Ulis, Kentucky
Yogi Ferrell, Indiana
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