UCLA’s Joshua Smith, Reeves Nelson Make John Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 List
Los Angeles (October 3, 2011)— The Los Angeles Athletic Club has announced its Preseason Top 50 list today on ESPN.com. Chosen by a preseason poll of national college basketball media members, 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.
Ohio State sophomore forward Jared Sullinger was a Wooden Award All American and finalist a year ago after averaging 17.2 points and 10.2 rebounds before opting to return to Columbus for a second season. “The decision made by the Sullinger family, who we enjoyed hosting last year at the Wooden Award, exemplifies Coach Wooden’s ideas of the importance of education,” said Los Angeles Athletic Club President Steve Hathaway. “Coach Wooden would have been so pleased to see so many fine players return to college basketball this year. I expect a competitive year for the Award in 2012.”
Transfers, freshmen and medical redshirts are not eligible for the Preseason list. The players on the Preseason list are considered strong candidates for the Midseason list and the official voting ballot, both of which are open to freshman and transfer students. 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, consisting of the nation’s top 10 players, will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament.
The 36th annual Wooden Award ceremony marks the 25th anniversary of the selection of the Naval Academy’s David Robinson as the Wooden Award winner. The 2012 event will honor the Men’s and Women’s Wooden Award winners, and will include the presentation of the Wooden Award All American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award. It will take place the weekend of April 6-8, 2012.
For the first time, a school had four players chosen to the Preseason Top 50 when North Carolina returners Harrison Barnes, John Henson, Kendall Marshall and Tyler Zeller were selected. Ohio State (Sullinger, William Buford and Aaron Craft) and Vanderbilt (Festus Ezeli, John Jenkins and Jeffery Taylor) had three players chosen:. Six schools, all perennial top programs at the national level, had two players named to the Preseason List: California (Jorge Gutierrez, Allen Crabbe); Connecticut (Jeremy Lamb, Alex Oriakhi); Memphis (Will Barton, Joe Jackson); Syracuse (Scoop Jardine, Kris Joseph); and UCLA (Reeves Nelson, Joshua Smith).
Nineteen of the 50 players named were from two conferences, the Big East (10) and Big Ten (9). The SEC had seven players chosen, followed by the ACC, Big 12, and Pac-12 each with four; and the Atlantic 10, Big West and Conference USA with two each. Conferences with one players named include the Horizon League, Ivy League, MAAC, Missouri Valley, Mountain West and WCC.
2011-12 John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 List, Men
| Name | Height | Class | Position | University | Conference |
| Tim Abromaitis | 6-8 | GS | F | Notre Dame | Big East |
| Harrison Barnes | 6-8 | So. | F | North Carolina | ACC |
| Will Barton | 6-6 | So. | G | Memphis | Conference USA |
| Dee Bost | 6-2 | Sr. | G | Mississippi State | SEC |
| William Buford | 6-5 | Sr. | G | Ohio State | Big Ten |
| Allen Crabbe | 6-6 | So. | G | California | Pac-12 |
| Aaron Craft | 6-2 | So. | G | Ohio State | Big Ten |
| Marcus Denmon | 6-3 | Sr. | G | Missouri | Big 12 |
| Festus Ezeli | 6-11 | Sr. | C | Vanderbilt | SEC |
| Ashton Gibbs | 6-2 | Sr. | G | Pitt | Big East |
| Michael Glover | 6-7 | Sr. | F | Iona | MAAC |
| Drew Gordon | 6-9 | Sr. | F | New Mexico | Mountain West |
| Draymond Green | 6-7 | Sr. | F | Michigan State | Big Ten |
| JaMychal Green | 6-8 | Sr. | F | Alabama | SEC |
| Jorge Gutierrez | 6-3 | Sr. | G | California | Pac-12 |
| Tim Hardaway, Jr. | 6-5 | So. | G | Michigan | Big Ten |
| Elias Harris | 6-7 | Jr. | F | Gonzaga | WCC |
| John Henson | 6-11 | Jr. | F | North Carolina | ACC |
| Tu Holloway | 6-0 | Sr. | G | Xavier | Atlantic 10 |
| Robbie Hummel | 6-8 | Sr. | F | Purdue | Big Ten |
| Joe Jackson | 6-1 | So. | G | Memphis | Conference USA |
| Scoop Jardine | 6-2 | Sr. | G | Syracuse | Big East |
| John Jenkins | 6-3 | Jr. | G | Vanderbilt | SEC |
| Orlando Johnson | 6-5 | Sr. | G | UCSB | Big West |
| Darius Johnson-Odom | 6-2 | Sr. | G | Marquette | Big East |
| Kevin Jones | 6-8 | Sr. | F | West Virginia | Big East |
| Terrence Jones | 6-8 | So. | F | Kentucky | SEC |
| Perry Jones III | 6-11 | So. | F | Baylor | Big 12 |
| Kris Joseph | 6-7 | Sr. | F | Syracuse | Big East |
| Jeremy Lamb | 6-5 | So. | G | Connecticut | Big East |
| Kendall Marshall | 6-4 | So. | G | North Carolina | ACC |
| Trevor Mbakwe | 6-8 | Sr. | F | Minnesota | Big Ten |
| Ray McCallum | 6-1 | So. | G | Detroit | Horizon League |
| Doug McDermott | 6-7 | So. | F | Creighton | Missouri Valley |
| Khris Middleton | 6-7 | Jr. | F | Texas A&M | Big 12 |
| Reeves Nelson | 6-8 | Jr. | F | UCLA | Pac-12 |
| Andrew Nicholson | 6-9 | Sr. | F | St. Bonaventure | Atlantic 10 |
| Alex Oriakhi | 6-9 | Jr. | C | Connecticut | Big East |
| Thomas Robinson | 6-9 | Jr. | F | Kansas | Big 12 |
| John Shurna | 6-9 | Sr. | F | Northwestern | Big Ten |
| Peyton Siva | 6-0 | Jr. | G | Louisville | Big East |
| Joshua Smith | 6-10 | So. | C | UCLA | Pac-12 |
| Jared Sullinger* | 6-9 | So. | C | Ohio State | Big Ten |
| Jeffery Taylor | 6-7 | Sr. | G/F | Vanderbilt | SEC |
| Jordan Taylor | 6-1 | Sr. | G | Wisconsin | Big Ten |
| Casper Ware | 5-10 | Sr. | G | Long Beach State | Big West |
| Maalik Wayns | 6-2 | Jr. | G | Villanova | Big East |
| Keith Wright | 6-8 | Sr. | F | Harvard | Ivy League |
| Patric Young | 6-9 | So. | F/C | Florida | SEC |
| Tyler Zeller | 7-0 | Sr. | F | North Carolina | ACC |
