As he enters his senior year, Illinois point guard Demetri McCamey has secured his reputation as among the top players not only in the Big Ten, but the nation.
No one has doubted McCamey’s potential, but there have been questions aplenty about his work ethic and maturity. However, he’s made big strides all three years that he’s been in Champaign, and now he finds himself a candidate to join his former high school teammate and friend Evan Turner as a winner of the Wooden Award.
Eleven conferences are represented on the Wooden Award Preseason List. Leading the way is the Big 10 (10), followed by the ACC (8), Big East (7), SEC (3), Big 12 (7), Pac-10 (6), Atlantic 10 (3), Mountain West (2), West Coast (2); and Conference USA, and the Horizon League with one apiece.
The 35th annual Wooden Award ceremony, which 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, will take place the weekend of April 8-10, 2011.
About the John R. Wooden Award
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 minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include such notables as Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97), Blake Griffin (’09) and Maya Moore of Connecticut (’09). Ohio State’s Evan Turner and Connecticut’s Tina Charles won the Award in 2010.
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed close to a million dollars to universities’ general scholarship fund in the names of the All American recipients. The Award has also sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps in the Award’s name. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament, which brings together Special Olympic athletes and the All Americans, takes place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on the Friday prior to the John R. Wooden Award Ceremony.
2010-11 John R. Wooden Award
Preseason Top 50 List
Name Height Class Position University Conference
Ty Abbott 6-3 Sr. G Arizona State Pac-10
Lavoy Allen 6-9 Sr. F Temple Atlantic 10
Kevin Anderson 6-0 Sr. G Richmond Atlantic 10
Talor Battle 6-0 Sr. G Penn State Big Ten
Kenny Boynton 6-2 So. G Florida SEC
William Buford 6-5 Jr. G Ohio State Big Ten
Alec Burks 6-6 So. G Colorado Big 12
Randy Culpepper 6-0 Sr. G UTEP Conference USA
Malcolm Delaney 6-3 Sr. G Virginia Tech ACC
LaceDarius Dunn 6-4 Sr. G Baylor Big 12
Kim English 6-6 Jr. G Missouri Big 12
Corey Fisher 6-1 Sr. G Villanova Big East
Jimmer Fredette* 6-2 Sr. G Brigham Young Mountain West
Austin Freeman 6-4 Sr. G Georgetown Big East
Ashton Gibbs 6-2 Jr. G Pittsburgh Big East
Steven Gray 6-5 Sr. G Gonzaga West Coast
Jordan Hamilton 6-7 So. G/F Texas Big 12
Elias Harris 6-7 So. F Gonzaga West Coast
Jeremy Hazell 6-5 Sr. G Seton Hall Big East
John Henson 6-10 So. F North Carolina ACC
Cory Higgins 6-5 Sr. G Colorado Big 12
Tyler Honeycutt 6-8 So. F UCLA Pac-10
Robbie Hummel* 6-8 Sr. F Purdue Big Ten
JaJuan Johnson 6-10 Sr. F/C Purdue Big Ten
Kris Joseph 6-7 Jr. F Syracuse Big East
Kawhi Leonard 6-7 So. F San Diego State Mountain West
Jon Leuer 6-10 Sr. F Wisconsin Big Ten
Kalin Lucas* 6-1 Sr. F Michigan State Big Ten
Shelvin Mack 6-3 Jr. G Butler Horizon League
Demetri McCamey 6-3 Sr. G Illinois Big Ten
E’Twaun Moore 6-4 Sr. G Purdue Big Ten
Marcus Morris 6-9 Jr. F Kansas Big 12
Jacob Pullen 6-0 Sr. G Kansas State Big 12
John Shurna 6-8 Jr. F Northwestern Big Ten
Kyle Singler* 6-8 Sr. F Duke ACC
Chris Singleton 6-9 Jr. F Florida State ACC
Nolan Smith 6-2 Sr. G Duke ACC
Tracy Smith 6-8 Sr. F North Carolina State ACC
Durrell Summers 6-5 Sr. G Michigan State Big Ten
Jeffery Taylor 6-7 Jr. G/F Vanderbilt SEC
Isaiah Thomas 5-9 Jr. G Washington Pac-10
Trey Thompkins 6-10 Jr. F Georgia SEC
Klay Thompson 6-6 Jr. G Washington State Pac-10
Joe Trapani 6-8 Sr. F Boston College ACC
Brandon Triche 6-4 So. G Syracuse Big East
Nikola Vucevic 6-10 Jr. F USC Pac-10
Kemba Walker 6-1 Jr. G Connecticut Big East
Derrick Williams 6-8 So. F Arizona Pac-10
Jordan Williams 6-10 So. F Maryland ACC
Chris Wright 6-8 Sr. F Dayton Atlantic 10
(Based on a preseason poll. Players listed alphabetically.)
*indicates player chosen to the 2010 Wooden Award ballot