UW junior guard Devin Harris has been named to the Midseason Top 30 Candidates List for the John R. Wooden Award, presented annually to college basketball’s top player.
Harris is averaging 16.9 points per game this season, which is a team best and ranks fourth in the Big Ten. He scored a career-high 30 points in Wisconsin’s 76-56 win over Illinois Saturday and has led the Badgers to a 13-3 overall record.
The midseason list for this year’s top individual honor includes 2003 Wooden Award All-American Emeka Okafor (Connecticut) along with senior guards Jameer Nelson (St. Joseph’s) and Chris Duhon (Duke), who were also mentioned among the finalists for last year’s Wooden Award.
Ten conferences are represented on this year’s midseason list, but just two Big Ten athletes are among the elite group of 30 — Harris and Minnesota freshman Kris Humphries.
Players who are not on the midseason list, however, are still eligible to win the award. The final official ballot, which consists of approximately 20 players, will be released in early March prior to the start of the 2004 NCAA Tournament.
“The Midseason Selection Committee had a tough chore in narrowing the list to 30 players because there have been so many stellar teams and individual performers thus far,” said Wooden Award Chairman Duke Llewellyn in a statement made on the award’s official website. “We anticipate an exciting finish to the season that will help us determine the elite candidates from this year’s group of outstanding college players.”
The All-American team will be announced March 30, 2004, and the top five candidates will be invited to Los Angeles for the awards ceremony. Each finalist will receive a contribution in his name to his school’s general scholarship fund.
The John R. Wooden Award was created in 1976 and is presented annually to the nation’s best player at an institution of higher education who has proven to his university that he is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.00 grade-point average.
Over the years a number of legendary players have earned the award, including 1984 winner Michael Jordan and 2002-03 NBA Most Valuable Player Tim Duncan in 1997.
