LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The Los Angeles Athletic Club, which organizes the John R. Wooden Award, has announced its Women’s Preseason Top 30 list and five BIG EAST players were selected. UConn senior Maya Moore, who won the award in 2009, is among the picks. She is joined by junior teammate Tiffany Hayes, Notre Dame sophomore Skylar Diggins, Georgetown sophomore Sugar Rodgers and DePaul senior Deirdre Naughton.
The women’s list is comprised of 30 student-athletes who, based on last year’s individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college basketball’s most prestigious honor.
Connecticut’s Maya Moore, the 2009 Wooden Award winner and a 2008 and 2010 Wooden All American, returns to lead her team as a senior. She is looking to become only the second four-time Wooden All American pick after averaging 18.9 points and 8.3 rebounds a year ago for the undefeated Huskies.
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, consisting of the nation’s top five players, will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament.
The 35th annual Wooden Award ceremony will take place the weekend of April 8-10, 2011. The ceremony 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.
Six schools, all perennial top programs at the national level, had two players chosen to the Preseason List, including UConn: (Moore, Tiffany Hayes).
The ACC and BIG EAST each had five players named to the preseason Top 30. Only four sophomores made the list, two hailing from the BIG EAST. Georgetown’s Sugar Rodgers and Skylar Diggins of Notre Dame lead the second-year players, joined by Baylor’s Brittney Griner, Delaware’s Elena Delle Donne.
2010-11 John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 30 List, Women
|
|
Name
|
Height
|
Class
|
Position
|
University
|
Conference
|
|
|
Danielle Adams
|
6-1
|
Sr.
|
F/C
|
Texas A&M
|
Big 12
|
|
Kachine Alexander
|
5-9
|
Sr.
|
G
|
Iowa
|
Big Ten
|
|
Angie Bjorklund
|
6-0
|
Sr.
|
G/F
|
Tennessee
|
SEC
|
|
Jessica Breland
|
6-3
|
Sr.
|
F
|
North Carolina
|
ACC
|
|
Elena Delle Donne
|
6-5
|
So.
|
G/F
|
Delaware
|
CAA
|
|
Skylar Diggins
|
5-9
|
So.
|
G
|
Notre Dame
|
BIG EAST
|
|
Jasmine Dixon
|
6-0
|
Jr.
|
F
|
UCLA
|
Pac 10
|
|
Victoria Dunlap
|
6-1
|
Sr.
|
F
|
Kentucky
|
SEC
|
|
Dawn Evans
|
5-7
|
Sr.
|
G
|
James Madison
|
CAA
|
|
Brittney Griner
|
6-8
|
So.
|
C
|
Baylor
|
Big 12
|
|
Amber Harris
|
6-5
|
Sr.
|
F
|
Xavier
|
Atlantic 10
|
|
Tiffany Hayes
|
5-10
|
Jr.
|
G
|
Connecticut
|
BIG EAST
|
|
Shenise Johnson
|
5-11
|
Jr.
|
G
|
Miami
|
ACC
|
|
Jantel Lavender
|
6-4
|
Sr.
|
C
|
Ohio State
|
Big Ten
|
|
Italee Lucas
|
5-8
|
Sr.
|
G
|
North Carolina
|
ACC
|
|
Maya Moore*#%
|
6-0
|
Sr.
|
F
|
Connecticut
|
BIG EAST
|
|
Deirdre Naughton
|
5-10
|
Sr.
|
G
|
DePaul
|
BIG EAST
|
|
Nnemkadi Ogwumike*
|
6-2
|
Jr.
|
F
|
Stanford
|
Pac 10
|
|
Kayla Pedersen
|
6-4
|
Jr.
|
F
|
Stanford
|
Pac 10
|
|
Ta’Shia Phillips
|
6-6
|
Sr.
|
C
|
Xavier
|
Atlantic 10
|
|
Samantha Prahalis
|
5-7
|
Jr.
|
G
|
Ohio State
|
Big Ten
|
|
Lauren Prochaska
|
5-11
|
Sr.
|
G/F
|
Bowling Green
|
Mid-American
|
|
Chastity Reed
|
6-1
|
Sr.
|
F
|
Arkansas Little-Rock
|
Sun Belt
|
|
Danielle Robinson
|
5-9
|
Sr.
|
G
|
Oklahoma
|
Big 12
|
|
Sugar Rodgers
|
5-11
|
So.
|
G
|
Georgetown
|
BIG EAST
|
|
Shekinna Stricklen
|
6-2
|
Jr.
|
G/F
|
Tennessee
|
SEC
|
|
Helena Sverrisdottir
|
6-1
|
Sr.
|
G/F
|
TCU
|
Mountain West
|
|
Carolyn Swords
|
6-6
|
Sr.
|
C
|
Boston College
|
ACC
|
|
Jasmine Thomas
|
5-9
|
Sr.
|
G
|
Duke
|
ACC
|
|
Courtney Vandersloot
|
5-8
|
Sr.
|
G
|
Gonzaga
|
West Coast
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Based on a preseason poll. Players listed alphabetically.)
*indicates player chosen to the 2010 Wooden All American Team)
#indicates player was 2009 Wooden Award winner)
% indicates player chosen to the 2008 Wooden All American Team)
