Vasquez a Finalist for Wooden Award
3/15/2010 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 15, 2010
LOS ANGELES - Greivis Vasquez is on the short list for one of the most prestigious national college basketball awards.
The senior guard was one 26 players on the 2010 John R. Wooden Award ballot which was was announced Monday at The Los Angeles Athletic Club by the award committee. The ballot was sent to the panel of voters, which is comprised of sports media members and college basketball experts from around the nation. Voters have until 3 p.m. EST on Monday to submit their ballots.
Vasquez earned the 2010 Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year award last week and was a first team All-America selection by Sporting News and FoxSports.com.
The ballot also includes returning Wooden Award All-American Luke Harangody of Notre Dame, Kalin Lucas of Michigan State, Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer of Duke, Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich of top-ranked Kansas, and DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall of Kentucky.
The Big East has the most balloted players, with 7 of the 26 total spots. The ACC and Big 12 have four apiece, the SEC and Big 10 have three, the Mountain West two, and the Pac-10, West Coast and Horizon League each have one player chosen to the ballot. Twenty-four of the 26 players on the ballot will be playing in the NCAA Tournament.
The 34th annual Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the announcement of the men's and women's Wooden Award winner, and the presentation of the Legends of Coaching Award to Florida's Billy Donovan, will take place on April 9, 2010.
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 Larry Bird ('79), Michael Jordan ('84), Tim Duncan ('97), and Blake Griffin ('09). Candace Parker (Tennessee) won the Women's Wooden Award in 2007 and 2008 and Maya Moore (Connecticut) won last year.
