Feb. 6, 2009
TUCSON, Ariz. - University of Arizona men's basketball player Jordan Hill was named one of 30 candidates for the 2008-09 John R. Wooden Award, it was announced Friday by the Los Angeles Athletic Club's Wooden Award Committee.
The Wildcat junior is included among a list of 30 student-athletes who are under consideration for the 2009 John R. Wooden Award, which has been given to college basketball's player of the year annually since 1969. The midseason list is based on individual player performance and team records during the first half of the season. Hill is one of five Pac-10 players on the list.
Hill, a 6-foot-10, 235-pound forward from Atlanta, Ga., averages 18.0 points, 11.7 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game in 22 appearances this season, while leading the team with a .550 (160-of-291) field goal percentage. He has scored in double figures 21 times to date, and has a Pac-10-leading 14 double-doubles to his credit.
Hill averages 34.6 minutes per game this year with seven 20-point games and four games with 15 or more rebounds. He collected a career high 30 points on Jan. 24 vs. Houston and grabbed a career-best 22 rebounds on Nov. 18 vs. UAB. Hill earned Pac-10 Player-of-the-Week honors on Dec.15.
The Wooden Award committee will distribute the National Ballot to more than 1,000 voters in early March. The 10-player Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced the week of the "Elite Eight" round of the NCAA Tournament.
The 2009 ceremony, which will include the presentation of the Men's and Women's John R. Wooden Award, the Wooden Award All-America teams, and the Legends of Coaching Award to recipient Rick Barnes of the University of Texas, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club in April 2009. The top five male and female finalists will be invited to Los Angeles for the Award's ceremony and will receive a contribution from The Los Angeles Athletic Club for their university's general scholarship fund.
The Arizona men's basketball team (15-8, 5-5 Pac-10) will next be in action on Sat., Feb. 7, at Oregon. Tip-off is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. PST and can be seen on ABC-TV.
2009 Wooden Award
Midseason Top 30 Candidates
A.J. Abrams 5-11 G Sr. Texas
Jeff Adrien 6-7 F Sr. Connecticut
DeJuan Blair 6-7 F So. Pittsburgh
Jon Brockman 6-7 F Sr. Washington
Nick Calathes 6-6 G/F So. Florida
Sherron Collins 5-11 G Jr. Kansas
Darren Collison 6-0 G Sr. UCLA
Stephen Curry# 6-3 G Jr. Davidson
Jonny Flynn 6-0 G So. Syracuse
Taj Gibson 6-9 F Jr. USC
Blake Griffin 6-10 F So. Oklahoma
Tyler Hansbrough#! 6-9 F Sr. North Carolina
Luke Harangody# 6-8 F Jr. Notre Dame
James Harden 6-4 G So. Arizona State
Manny Harris 6-5 G So. Michigan
Gerald Henderson 6-4 G/F Jr. Duke
Jordan Hill 6-10 F Jr. Arizona
Matt Howard 6-7 F So. Butler
Ty Lawson 5-11 G Jr. North Carolina
Kalin Lucas 6-0 F So. Michigan State
Wesley Matthews 6-5 G Sr. Marquette
Jerel McNeal 6-3 G Sr. Marquette
Jodie Meeks 6-4 G Jr. Kentucky
Greg Monroe 6-11 C Fr. Georgetown
Kyle Singler 6-8 F So. Duke
Tyler Smith 6-7 F Jr. Tennessee
Jeff Teague 6-2 G So. Wake Forest
Hasheem Thabeet 7-3 C Jr. Connecticut
Terrence Williams 6-6 F Sr. Louisville
Sam Young 6-6 F Jr. Pittsburgh
! - 2008 Wooden Award Winner
# - 2008 Wooden All American Team
