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Currie Named Wooden All-America, Finalist For Player of the Year
LOS ANGELES ? Duke's Monique Currie Wednesday was named to the Wooden All-Americca team by the John R. Wooden Award Committee. The team is composed of the five finalists who will be invited to Los Angeles for the 30th Annual Wooden Award Ceremony.
The trophy presentation for this season's top women’s college basketball player of the year will air Saturday, April 8, during a national CBS Sports telecast of the "John R. Wooden Award Show Presented by TIAA-CREF" live from The Los Angeles Athletic Club at 2 p.m. EST.
A panel of more than 200 voters comprised of sports media members and women’s college basketball experts from around the nation had until 3 p.m. EST on Monday, March 27 to cast their votes for both the five-member All-American Team and Wooden Award recipient as the nation’s most outstanding women’s collegiate basketball player. In addition to on-court performance, voters were also asked to make their selections based on each candidate’s character and academic performance, essential components of the Wooden Award. The Wooden Award opts for the March 27 deadline because it allows voters to evaluate players up until the Elite Eight has been determined.
The Women’s Wooden Award All-Americans, in alphabetical order, are Seimone Augustus of LSU, Duke’s Monique Currie, North Carolina’s Ivory Latta, Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris and Cappie Pondexter of Rutgers. The 2006 All-American Team consists of three seniors, one junior and one freshman. Four conferences are represented on the All-American squad with the ACC leading the way with two players, followed by the Big 12, Big East and SEC, which each have one nominated player. Three All-Americans, including Augustus, Currie and Latta, have led their teams to this weekend’s Final Four in Boston.
Augustus, last year’s Women’s Wooden Award recipient, leads the nation in scoring (23.0 ppg) while guiding LSU to a third consecutive trip to the Final Four. North Carolina’s Latta ranks first on the Tarheels in scoring (18.6 ppg) and assists (5.2 apg) and recently notched her place in ACC history by becoming just the 12th player to hit 200 career 3-pointers. Returning Wooden Award All-American Currie has put up big numbers (16.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.3 spg) while helping to vault the Blue Devils to a 30-3 record and a Final Four appearance. Freshman Paris had one of the best seasons in NCAA history en route to leading Oklahoma to a perfect 16-0 Big 12 conference season. Paris finished the season leading the nation in rebounding (15.0 rpg) while becoming the first player in NCAA history to record 700 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks in one season. Not to be outdone, Pondexter was among the nation’s leading scorers (21.5 ppg) while being named Big East Player of the Year. Additionally, the senior guard led Rutgers to a perfect 16-0 conference record and a trip to the Sweet 16.
“We are delighted to recognize this fantastic group of women for their many remarkable accomplishments this season,” said Mike Solum, director of the Wooden Award. “It will be interesting to see which of these five talented players takes home the Wooden Award trophy.”
In order to be considered for the All-American Team, all players must have been accredited by their university as meeting the Wooden Award criteria, which includes making normal progress towards graduation and maintaining a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher. It should be noted that all players named to the All-American Team were deemed eligible by meeting the Wooden Award academic requirements.
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, and will be broadcast live on a national CBS Sports telecast. 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 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), Alana Beard (’04), and last year’s recipient, Seimone Augustus (’05).
2006 John R. Wooden Award All-Americans
(Listed in Alphabetical Order)
Seimone Augustus 6’1” Sr. G LSU
Monique Currie 6’0” Sr. G Duke
Ivory Latta 5’6” Jr. G North Carolina
Courtney Paris 6’4” Fr. C Oklahoma
Cappie Pondexter 5’9” Sr. G Rutgers
