2000 John R. Wooden Award Ballot Announced Today – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/6/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 6, 2000
LOS ANGELES– The 22 players selected to the 2000 John R. Wooden Award ballot were announced this afternoon on Fox Sports Net at 6 p.m. EDT/3 p.m. PDT. The Award is named for the three-time college basketball All American, 1932 Player of the Year and ten-time national championship coach at UCLA.
Two returning Wooden All-Americans were named to the ballot, Mateen Cleaves of Michigan State and Chris Porter of Auburn. Players were selected from eight of the top 10 teams in this week’s AP poll, including Kenyon Martin of No. 1 Cincinnati and Mark Madsen of No. 2 Stanford. No. 3 Duke and No. 5 Michigan State placed two players on the ballot, Shane Battier and Chris Carrawell from Duke and Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson from Michigan State.
The 2000 John R. Wooden Award will be presented to the college basketball player of the year at the 24th annual John R. Wooden Award program. The voters will select The Wooden Award All-American Team and determine which player will receive the Wooden Award Trophy as the outstanding collegiate basketball player in the United States. Ballots are due back from the voters Monday, March 27 at noon Pacific time. An announcement of the 10-player Wooden All-America team will be made on Fox Sports Net’s 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts in all time zones on Tuesday, March 28.
Fourteen of the 22 players are seniors. Players on the ballot represent eight conferences, with the Big 12 and Big 10 winning out with four players on the ballot. Chris Mihm of Texas, Marcus Fizer of Iowa State, Eduardo Najera of Oklahoma and Desmond Mason of Oklahoma State represent the Big 12, while Cleaves, Peterson, A.J. Guyton of Indiana and Scoonie Penn of Ohio State all chosen from the Big 10. A player named to the ballot must be in good standing at his current university and must be maintaining a minimum 2.0 grade average at that school.
“The voting was so close this year to select the ballot,” said Wooden Award Chairman Richard “Duke” Llewellyn. “It really illustrates the depth of talent across the country and I think the Wooden National Advisory Board did an excellent job. It won’t be an easy task for our voters to narrow this list down to 10 All-Americans and a Wooden Award winner.” The Wooden Award is unique in that it brings together one of the greatest contributor’s to college basketball–John R. Wooden–with the nation’s top players. Athletes in attendance at the Award are given the opportunity to meet Coach Wooden and take in some of the wisdom he bestowed on his own players en route to winning 10 NCAA titles at UCLA.
Said 1999 NCAA Champion Head Coach Jim Calhoun of Connecticut, whose point guard, Khalid El-Amin is on the 2000 Wooden Award ballot: “The continued involvement of Coach Wooden in this award creates a unique atmosphere for the outstanding student-athletes who are honored annually. One of basketball’s all-time greats is linking his tremendous contributions to the game we all love. This Award creates a bond with a new generation of stars.”
The Award presentation, which will include the presentation of the Wooden Award All-America team, and the Legends of Coaching Award to Mike Krzyzewski of Duke, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on Friday, April 7, 2000 at 4 p.m. PST/7 p.m. EST and will be televised nationally on Fox Sports Net for the third straight year . Tickets for the black tie John R. Wooden Award Presentation Gala, to be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Biltmore Hotel following the televised announcement, are $150 and may be obtained by calling The Los Angeles Athletic Club at (213) 630-5255.
The Los Angeles Athletic Club, one of the nation’s finest and oldest private athletic clubs, inaugurated the John R. Wooden Award in 1977, and past winners include Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan, David Robinson and Larry Bird. Duke’s Elton Brand won the Wooden Award in 1999.
The Los Angeles Athletic Club, founded in 1880, is located at 7th and Olive Streets in one of Los Angeles’ landmark buildings. The current facility, built in 1912, has 12 stories and more than 150,000 square feet of space including 72 European-style hotel rooms and four unique dining experiences. The Club’s athletic facilities include two indoor swimming pools, three fitness centers, a basketball/volleyball court, a tartan running track, handball/squash/racquetball courts, an aerobics studio, state-of-the-art weight training and cardio equipment and steam, sauna, tanning and massage areas. In addition to the Wooden Award, The Club’s athletic heritage includes a tradition of Olympic success, Club members have won more Olympic medals than any other club contingent in the nation, more than 100, and The Club currently sponsors the national champion boys Junior Olympic volleyball team.
2000 John R. Wooden Award Ballot(Players listed alphabetically Player Ht. Yr. Pos. School Courtney Alexander 6-5 Sr. G Fresno State Shane Battier 6-8 Jr. F Duke Chris Carrawell 6-8 Sr. F Duke Mateen Cleaves* 6-2 Sr. G Michigan State Khalid El-Amin 5-10 Jr. G Connecticut Marcus Fizer 6-8 Jr. F Iowa State A.J. Guyton 6-1 Sr. G Indiana Tony Harris 6-0 Jr. G Tennessee Eddie House 6-1 Sr. G Arizona St. Dan Langhi 6-11 Sr. F Vanderbilt Mark Madsen 6-8 Sr. F Stanford Kenyon Martin 6-8 Sr. C Cincinnati Desmond Mason 6-6 Sr. F Oklahoma State Chris Mihm 7-0 Jr. C Texas Troy Murphy 6-9 So. F Notre Dame Eduardo Najera 6-8 Sr. F Oklahoma Scoonie Penn 5-10 Sr. G Ohio State Morris Peterson 6-6 Sr. F Michigan State Chris Porter* 6-7 Sr. F Auburn Quentin Richardson 6-6 So. G DePaul Etan Thomas 6-8 Sr. F Syracuse Michael Wright 6-8 So. F Arizona
* 1999 Wooden All-American
The 1999-2000 John R. Wooden Award winner will be announced April 7, 2000 at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time on FOX Sports Net. The 10-player Wooden All-America team will be announced March 28, 2000 on Fox Sports Net’s 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts in all time zones.
