John R. Wooden Award Announces The 2006-07 All-America Team – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/28/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 28, 2007
LOS ANGELES – The John R. Wooden Award Committee today announced the 10 student-athletes named to the 2006-2007 Wooden Award All-American Team as well as the top five finalists who will be invited to the 31st Annual Wooden Award presentation in Los Angeles. The Wooden Award Player of the Year will be announced on Saturday, April 7, live during a national telecast on CBS Sports from The Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC) at 2 p.m. EDT.
A panel consisting of more than 1,000 voters including sports media and college basketball experts from across the nation had until 3 p.m. EDT on Monday, March 26 to cast their votes for both the 10-player All-American Team and the Wooden Award Player of the Year as the most outstanding collegiate basketball player in the nation. In addition to on-court performance, voters were asked to base their votes on the student athlete’s character and academic performance, essential components of the Wooden Award.
The Wooden Award All-Americans, in alphabetical order, are: Arron Afflalo (UCLA), Aaron Brooks (Oregon), Kevin Durant (Texas), Nick Fazekas (Nevada), Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina), Acie Law (Texas A&M), Joakim Noah (Florida), Greg Oden (Ohio State), Brandon Rush (Kansas), and Alando Tucker (Wisconsin).
In total, four seniors, two juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen were selected to the Wooden Award All-American Team. Six conferences are represented on the All-American Team with the Big 12 leading the way with three players, followed by the Pac 10 and the Big Ten with two candidates a piece and the ACC, SEC and WAC all with one representative. For the first time in its 31 year history the Wooden Award top five finalists will feature two freshmen, Kevin Durant of Texas and Greg Oden of Ohio State.
The five finalists who are invited to Los Angeles for the official Wooden Award Presentation in alphabetical order are Kevin Durant, Tyler Hansbrough, Acie Law, Greg Oden, and Alando Tucker. Durant completed an amazing season in which he led the Big 12 in scoring (25.8 ppg) and rebounding (11.1 rpg) and was named Big 12 Conference Player of the Year. He has recently been named the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Player of the Year. Tyler Hansbrough earned All-ACC first team honors in his sophomore campaign while leading the Tar Heels to the #1 seed in the East Region. Acie Law paced Texas A&M to one of the best seasons in school history. The lightning quick guard led the Aggies to the Sweet 16 with 18.1 ppg on the season. Greg Oden was the most dominant big man in the country this season. In only his freshman campaign Oden was an imposing force inside for the Buckeyes leading the Big Ten in rebounding (9.5 rpg), blocked shots (3.3 bpg), and field goal percentage (61.6%). Alando Tucker led the Badgers to a fantastic season; his 19.9 ppg was good enough for second in the conference and award of the Big Ten Player of the Year.
“There have been a variety of firsts this year for the Wooden Award including having a couple of freshmen on the All-American team as well as the fan participation in the voting,” said Duke Llewellyn, founder and chairman of the Wooden Award. “The finalists are a talented bunch and all well-deserving of the award. Each one would represent the award well as they’ve lead their teams to successful seasons while also achieving greatness off the court. The anticipation is building and we look forward to the ceremony and the crowning of this year’s Wooden Award Player of the Year.”
For the first time in Wooden Award history, college basketball fans were able to cast their vote for the Wooden Award Player of the Year. All fan votes have been tabulated and counted as one ballot towards the final tally. Fans had the option of voting online at www.WoodenAward.com or by text messaging. Nearly 50,000 fans cast their vote and over 29,000 of those were cast for the Men’s Wooden Award Player of the Year. With 7,600 votes Chris Lofton of Tennessee finished as the fan’s choice for Wooden Award Player of the Year. The rest of the fan’s top five includes Kevin Durant, A.J. Graves (Butler), Tyler Hansbrough and Drew Neitzel (Michigan State). Women’s results are included in the Women’s Wooden Award All-American Team release.
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 (’06).
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 awards 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.
Wooden Award All-American Team
Top 10 in Alphabetical Order
| Arron Afflalo | 6’5? | Jr. | G | UCLA |
| Aaron Brooks | 6’0? | Sr. | G | Oregon |
| Kevin Durant | 6’9? | Fr. | G/F | Texas |
| Nick Fazekas | 6’11” | Sr. | F | Nevada |
| Tyler Hansbrough | 6’9? | So. | F | North Carolina |
| Acie Law | 6’3? | Sr. | G | Texas A&M |
| Joakim Noah | 6’11” | Jr. | F/C | Florida |
| Greg Oden | 7’0? | Fr. | C | Ohio State |
| Brandon Rush | 6’6? | So. | G | Kansas |
| Alando Tucker | 6’6? | Sr. | F | Wisconsin |
