The John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 list was announced today by The Los Angeles Athletic Club. The list is comprised of 50 student-athletes who, based on last year’s individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college basketball’s most prestigious honor. The Women’s Preseason list will be released later this week.
Returning players from past Wooden Award ballots include four seniors: Duke’s Kyle Singler (2009, 2010), Robbie Hummel of Purdue (2008, 2010), Kalin Lucas of Michigan State (2009, 2010) and BYU’s Jimmer Fredette (2010).
Singler was the MVP of the 2010 Final Four, leading the Blue Devils to the NCAA title in averaging 17.7 points and 7.0 rebounds his junior season. Hummel was a 2008 and 2010 All-Big 10 selection, and also a two-time Academic All-Big 10 pick who averaged 15.7 points and 6.9 rebounds in 2010. Lucas is considered among the nation’s top point guards after leading the Spartans in scoring (14.8 ppg) and assists (4.0 ast) during their Final Four campaign a year ago. Fredette was his team’s top scorer (22.1 ppg) and playmaker (4.7 ast) and was an All-MWC player as a junior.
Transfers, freshmen and medical redshirts are not eligible for the preseason list. These players and others who excel throughout the season will be evaluated and considered for December’s Midseason list and the official voting ballot released in March. The National Ballot consists of approximately 20 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining at least 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.
Purdue (Hummel, JaJuan Johnson, E’Twaun Moore) was the only school with three players named to the Wooden Award preseason Top 50. Five schools had two players chosen to the list: Colorado (Alec Burks, Cory Higgins); Duke (Singler, Nolan Smith); Gonzaga (Steven Gray, Elias Harris); Michigan State (Lucas, Durrell Summers); Syracuse (Kris Joseph, Brandon Triche).
Eleven conferences are represented on the Wooden Award Preseason List. Leading the way is the Big 10 (10), followed by the ACC (8), Big East (7), SEC (3), Big 12 (7), Pac-10 (6), Atlantic 10 (3), Mountain West (2), West Coast (2); and Conference USA, and the Horizon League with one apiece.
The 35th annual Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the announcement of the Men’s and Women’s Wooden Award winners, a special tribute to Coach Wooden and Wooden Award founder Duke Llewellyn, and the presentation of the Wooden Award All American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, will take place the weekend of April 8-10, 2011.
2010-11 John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 List
| Name | Height | Class | Position | University | Conference |
| Ty Abbott | 6-3 | Sr. | G | Arizona State | Pac-10 |
| Lavoy Allen | 6-9 | Sr. | F | Temple | Atlantic 10 |
| Kevin Anderson | 6-0 | Sr. | G | Richmond | Atlantic 10 |
| Talor Battle | 6-0 | Sr. | G | Penn State | Big Ten |
| Kenny Boynton | 6-2 | So. | G | Florida | SEC |
| William Buford | 6-5 | Jr. | G | Ohio State | Big Ten |
| Alec Burks | 6-6 | So. | G | Colorado | Big 12 |
| Randy Culpepper | 6-0 | Sr. | G | UTEP | Conference USA |
| Malcolm Delaney | 6-3 | Sr. | G | Virginia Tech | ACC |
| LaceDarius Dunn | 6-4 | Sr. | G | Baylor | Big 12 |
| Kim English | 6-6 | Jr. | G | Missouri | Big 12 |
| Corey Fisher | 6-1 | Sr. | G | Villanova | Big East |
| Jimmer Fredette* | 6-2 | Sr. | G | Brigham Young | Mountain West |
| Austin Freeman | 6-4 | Sr. | G | Georgetown | Big East |
| Ashton Gibbs | 6-2 | Jr. | G | Pittsburgh | Big East |
| Steven Gray | 6-5 | Sr. | G | Gonzaga | West Coast |
| Jordan Hamilton | 6-7 | So. | G/F | Texas | Big 12 |
| Elias Harris | 6-7 | So. | F | Gonzaga | West Coast |
| Jeremy Hazell | 6-5 | Sr. | G | Seton Hall | Big East |
| John Henson | 6-10 | So. | F | North Carolina | ACC |
| Cory Higgins | 6-5 | Sr. | G | Colorado | Big 12 |
| Tyler Honeycutt | 6-8 | So. | F | UCLA | Pac-10 |
| Robbie Hummel* | 6-8 | Sr. | F | Purdue | Big Ten |
| JaJuan Johnson | 6-10 | Sr. | F/C | Purdue | Big Ten |
| Kris Joseph | 6-7 | Jr. | F | Syracuse | Big East |
| Kawhi Leonard | 6-7 | So. | F | San Diego State | Mountain West |
| Jon Leuer | 6-10 | Sr. | F | Wisconsin | Big Ten |
| Kalin Lucas* | 6-1 | Sr. | F | Michigan State | Big Ten |
| Shelvin Mack | 6-3 | Jr. | G | Butler | Horizon League |
| Demetri McCamey | 6-3 | Sr. | G | Illinois | Big Ten |
| E’Twaun Moore | 6-4 | Sr. | G | Purdue | Big Ten |
| Marcus Morris | 6-9 | Jr. | F | Kansas | Big 12 |
| Jacob Pullen | 6-0 | Sr. | G | Kansas State | Big 12 |
| John Shurna | 6-8 | Jr. | F | Northwestern | Big Ten |
| Kyle Singler* | 6-8 | Sr. | F | Duke | ACC |
| Chris Singleton | 6-9 | Jr. | F | Florida State | ACC |
| Nolan Smith | 6-2 | Sr. | G | Duke | ACC |
| Tracy Smith | 6-8 | Sr. | F | North Carolina State | ACC |
| Durrell Summers | 6-5 | Sr. | G | Michigan State | Big Ten |
| Jeffery Taylor | 6-7 | Jr. | G/F | Vanderbilt | SEC |
| Isaiah Thomas | 5-9 | Jr. | G | Washington | Pac-10 |
| Trey Thompkins | 6-10 | Jr. | F | Georgia | SEC |
| Klay Thompson | 6-6 | Jr. | G | Washington State | Pac-10 |
| Joe Trapani | 6-8 | Sr. | F | Boston College | ACC |
| Brandon Triche | 6-4 | So. | G | Syracuse | Big East |
| Nikola Vucevic | 6-10 | Jr. | F | USC | Pac-10 |
| Kemba Walker | 6-1 | Jr. | G | Connecticut | Big East |
| Derrick Williams | 6-8 | So. | F | Arizona | Pac-10 |
| Jordan Williams | 6-10 | So. | F | Maryland | ACC |
| Chris Wright | 6-8 | Sr. | F | Dayton | Atlantic 10 |
