The Midseason Top 20 candidate list for the John R. Wooden Award announced

By Cheryl Coward

The John R. Wooden Award

The Los Angeles Athletic Club announced the Midseason Top 20 Candidate List for the John R. Wooden Award today on womenssportscentral.com’s radio show hosted by Brenda VanLengen and Mechelle Voepel. The award emphasizes performance rather than reputation and includes freshman and transfer students who have shown they are deserving of recognition.

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Stanford senior Nneka Ogwumike and Baylor junior Brittney Griner return to the list as they were nominees last year. Ogwumike also made the top 20 in 2010 and leads the Pac-12 in scoring (22.9 ppg) and rebounding (11.2 rpg). Griner is averaging 22.7 points per game for the No. 1-ranked Lady Bears. She also ranks No. 19 in rebounding (10.3) and No. 1 in blocked shots (5.1). Elena Delle Donne, a senior for Delaware and the nation’s leading scorer (27.9 ppg), is also a candidate. The full list is below.

Created in 1976 and named after the Hall of Fame player, coach and teacher, the award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. Initially only given to men’s players, Alana Beard (Duke University) won the inaugural award for women in 2004.

The award has also contributed close to a million dollars to universities’ general scholarship fund in the names of the All American recipients, sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps and partners with Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host an annual tournament.

Voters for the award include several hundred members of the women’s college basketball media.

Full List

1. Alex Bentley, Penn State
2. Elena Delle Donne, Delaware
3. Skylar Diggins, Notre Dame
4. Shante Evans, Hofstra
5. Brittney Griner, Baylor*
6. Bria Hartley, Connecticut
7. Glory Johnson, Tennessee
8. Shenise Johnson, Miami
9. A’dia Mathies, Kentucky
10. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Connecticut
11. Natalie Novosel, Notre Dame
12. Chiney Ogwumike, Stanford
13. Nneka Ogwumike, Stanford*
14. Samantha Prahalis, Ohio State
15. Sugar Rodgers, Georgetown
16. Odyssey Sims, Baylor
17. Shekinna Stricklen, Tennessee
18. Alyssa Thomas, Maryland
19. Elizabeth Williams, Duke
20. Riquna Williams, Miami (FL)

*indicates player was 2011 Wooden Award All American

Previous winners

• 2011 – Maya Moore, University of Connecticut
• 2010 – Tina Charles, University of Connecticut
• 2009 – Maya Moore University of Connecticut
• 2008 – Candace Parker, University of Tennessee
• 2007 – Candace Parker, University of Tennessee
• 2006 – Seimone Augustus, Louisiana State University
• 2005 – Seimone Augustus, Louisiana State University
• 2004 – Alana Beard, Duke University