Aug. 12, 2005

LOS ANGELES - After tallying the ballots of the National Advisory Board, the John R. Wooden Award today announced the top 30 preseason candidates for the 2005-06 Women's Wooden Award presented by Applied Materials (see below). The list is composed of 30 student athletes who, based on last year's individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college basketball's most coveted trophy. These top 30 candidates are comprised of returning players, although transfers, freshmen and other players who excel throughout the season will be evaluated and considered for both the Midseason top 20 list and the National Ballot.

"The Committee had an incredibly difficult task in narrowing down the nation's top 30 women's players," said Mike Solum, director of the Wooden Award. "This list represents the elite of college basketball, and our entire team at the Wooden Award is excited to see the best players in the nation prove their case as basketball's player of the year."

Three of this season's preseason candidates were honored last year as members of the 2005 Women's Wooden Award All-American Team, including Wooden Award Winner Seimone Augustus (LSU), Monique Currie (Duke), and Jessica Davenport (Ohio State). In addition, six other preseason nominees were in the running for last year's Wooden Award and named to the official voting ballot, including Lindsay Bowen (Michigan State), Tiffany Jackson (Texas), Cappie Pondexter (Rutgers), Khara Smith (DePaul), Candice Wiggins (Stanford), and Sophia Young (Baylor). Augustus, Pondexter and Smith all carry the distinction of being two-time Wooden Award national ballot finalists.

Nine NCAA conferences are represented, including the ACC (seven players), Big East (six players), Pac 10 (four players), SEC (four players), Big Ten (three players), Big 12 (three players), Mountain West (one player), Western Athletic (one player), and Atlantic 10 (one player). Several schools had two players nominated, including UConn (Ann Strother and Barbara Turner), LSU (Augustus and Sylvia Fowles), UCLA (Nikki Blue and Noelle Quinn), Duke (Currie and Mistie Williams), Maryland (Shay Doron and Crystal Langhorne), and North Carolina (Erlana Larkins and Ivory Latta).

Three of last year's Final Four teams boast at least one representative on the preseason team including LSU (Augustus and Fowles), Michigan State (Bowen), and Sophia Young of the 2005 National Champion Baylor Lady Bears.

In mid-January, the Wooden Award Committee will release the Midseason Top 20 List, followed in March by the official voting ballot, consisting of approximately 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. The 2006 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, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on April 8, 2006, and will be broadcast live on a national CBS telecast. The top five male and female finalists will be invited to Los Angeles for the Awards ceremony and will receive a contribution from the John R. Wooden Award Scholarship Fund in their name to their university's general scholarship fund.

The Wooden Award Scholarship Fund was established in 2002 by Applied Materials and corporate partners through the California Community Foundation (CCF) to honor Coach Wooden's dedication as an educator and mentor. The Scholarship Fund distributed $10,000 last year to each university represented by a men's and women's Wooden Award All-American Team finalist (for a total of $100,000). Additional donations to Applied Materials' John Wooden Scholarship Fund can be made by contacting the scholarship fund through the CCF (www.calfund.org).

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 Michael Jordan ('84), Larry Bird ('79), Tim Duncan ('97) and last year's recipient, Seimone Augustus ('05).

2005-06 Wooden Award Preseason All-American Team - Top 30 Candidates (Based on a preseason poll. Players listed alphabetically.)

Seimone Augustus*, LSU Nikki Blue, UCLA Lindsay Bowen, Michigan State Jazz Covington, Louisville Monique Currie*, Duke Jessica Davenport*, Ohio State Shay Doron, Maryland Megan Duffy, Notre Dame Candice Dupree, Temple Emily Faurholt, Idaho Sylvia Fowles, LSU Katie Gearlds, Purdue Erin Grant, Texas Tech Tasha Humphrey, Georgia Tiffany Jackson, Texas Tamara James, Miami Crystal Langhorne, Maryland Erlana Larkins, North Carolina Ivory Latta, North Carolina Shawntinice Polk, Arizona Cappie Pondexter, Rutgers Armintie Price, Mississippi Noelle Quinn, UCLA Khara Smith, DePaul Kim Smith,Utah Ann Strother, Connecticut Barbara Turner, Connecticut Candice Wiggins, Stanford Mistie Williams, Duke Sophia Young, Baylor

* Indicates player was a 2004-2005 John R. Wooden Award All-American.