Aug. 2, 2002

LOS ANGELES - It's never too early to start talking college basketball.

After tallying the ballots of the Preseason Selection Committee, the John R. Wooden Award has announced the Wooden Award Preseason All-America Team - a list of 50 student-athletes including Maryland's Steve Blake who, based on last year's individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college basketball's most coveted trophy. The list is composed only of returning players - transfers and freshmen are not eligible - though they are evaluated and considered for the midseason top 30.

With Blake as its point guard, Maryland has advanced to the Final Four in consecutive seasons, including a national championship last spring. Blake averaged 8.0 points last season. His 7.9 assists led the ACC and were second in the country. He begins the 2002-03 season as the nation's top returner in career assists, boasting 751 through three seasons. Already the Terps' career leader in assists, he is among the school's career leaders in steals and 3-point field goals, as well.

The Terrapins' Blake is undeniably one of the country's most elite ballhandlers and playmakers, guiding Maryland to an 82-25 record through three seasons as the team's starting point guard. Blake already has started in 105 college games including a string of 78 consecutive starts as he enters his senior season. He needs 221 points and 249 assists to reach 1,000 for his career in both categories. He is on pace to challenge the top assist-makers in NCAA and ACC history, and become just the fourth college player ever to register 1,000 assists (Bobby Hurley, Chris Corchiani, Ed Cota).

Last year, Maryland's Juan Dixon finished third in balloting for the Wooden Player of the Year Award, and senior teammate Lonny Baxter joined Dixon on the Wooden All-America Team.

Arizona's Luke Walton is the only member of the 2002 Wooden Award All-America Team on this year's preseason list. Though he wasn't named on last year's preseason team, Walton enjoyed a breakthrough year for the Wildcats, averaging 15.7 points and leading the Pac-10 Conference in assists with 6.3 per contest. In addition to Walton, several other 2003 preseason candidates were in the running for the award and named to last year's midseason top 30 list, including Troy Bell (Boston College), Matt Bonner (Florida), Nick Collison (Kansas), Jason Gardner (Arizona), Jason Kapono (UCLA) and David West (Xavier).

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 university that he is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include such notables as Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Tim Duncan and last year's recipient, Jason Williams.

The 2003 Award ceremony, which will include the presentation of the Wooden Award All-America team and the presentation of the Legends of Coaching Award, will be held at the Los Angeles Athletic Club on Sunday, April 13th and will be televised live nationally on Fox Sports Net for the sixth straight year.

The 2002-03 Wooden Award Preseason All-America Team (Top 50):
Mario Austin    6'9"  Jr.  F/C Mississippi State
Marcus Bailey   6'5"  Sr.  G/F Wyoming
Troy Bell       6'1"  Sr.  G   Boston College
Steve Blake     6'3"  Sr.  G   Maryland
Keith Bogans    6'5"  Sr.  G   Kentucky
Matt Bonner     6'10" Sr.  F   Florida
Nick Collison   6'9"  Sr.  F   Kansas
Brian Cook      6'10" Sr.  F   Illinois
Tom Coverdale   6'2"  Sr.  G   Indiana
Willie Deane    6'1"  Sr.  G   Purdue
Erwin Dudley    6'8"  Sr.  F   Alabama
Chris Duhon     6'1"  Jr.  G   Duke
Carl English    6'5"  Jr.  G/F Hawaii
Ebi Ere         6'5"  Sr.  G   Oklahoma
T.J. Ford       5'10" So.  G   Texas
Reece Gaines    6'6"  Sr.  G   Louisville
Jason Gardner   5'11" Sr.  G   Arizona
Marcus Hatten   6'1"  Sr.  G   St. John's
Jarvis Hayes    6'6"  Jr.  G/F Georgia
Chris Hill      6'3"  So.  G   Michigan State
Kirk Hinrich    6'3"  Sr.  G   Kansas
Josh Howard     6'6"  Sr.  F   Wake Forest
Brandon Hunter  6'7"  Sr.  F   Ohio
Luke Jackson    6'7"  Jr.  G   Oregon
Britton Johnsen 6'9"  Sr.  G   Utah
Dahntay Jones   6'6"  Sr.  F   Duke
Jason Kapono    6'7"  Sr.  F   UCLA
Brandin Knight  6'0"  Sr.  G   Pittsburgh
Chris Marcus    7'1"  Sr.  C/F Western Kentucky
Jason Maxiel    6'7"  So.  F   Cincinnati
Brett Nelson    6'3"  Sr.  G   Florida
Jameer Nelson   6'1"  Jr.  G   St. Joseph's
Emeka Okafor    6'9"  Jr.  F/C Connecticut
Ugonna Onyekwe  6'8"  Sr.  F   Pennsylvania
Rickey Paulding 6'5"  Jr.  G   Missouri
Kirk Penney     6'5"  Sr.  G   Wisconsin
Hollis Price    6'1"  Sr.  G   Oklahoma
Justin Reed     6'8"  Jr.  F   Mississippi
Darius Rice     6'10" Jr.  F   Miami
Luke Ridnour    6'2"  Jr.  G   Oregon
Romain Sato     6'5"  Jr.  G/F Xavier
Theron Smith    6'8"  Sr.  F   Ball State
Mike Sweetney   6'8"  Jr.  F   Georgetown
Chris Thomas    6'1"  So.  G   Notre Dame
James Thomas    6'8"  Jr.  C   Texas
Cory Violette   6'8"  Jr.  F/C Gonzaga
Dwyane Wade     6'4"  Jr.  G   Marquette
Luke Walton*    6'8"  Sr.  F   Arizona
Travis Watson   6'8"  Sr.  F/C Virginia
David West      6'8"  Sr.  F/C Xavier

* = Indicates player was a 2001-2002 John R. Wooden Award All-American