Layman, Trimble Named to Wooden List
11/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – Maryland men's basketball forward Jake Layman and guard Melo Trimble have been named to the John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy's Preseason Top-50 as announced today on ESPN's SportsCenter and on ESPN.com.
Chosen by a preseason poll of national college basketball experts, the list is comprised of 50 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for college basketball's most prestigious individual honor. Maryland is one of 12 schools in the country with multiple players in the top-50.
The Top 50 nominees represent 10 conferences. The Big Ten leads all conferences with 10 selections, followed by the ACC (9), and the Big 12 (7), SEC (7), Pac-12 (5), Big East (4) and WCC (3). The American and Missouri Valley Conference each have two players selected and the Atlantic 10 has one player selected.
The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2016 John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy's. The Wooden Award National Advisory Board will select 25 players to the Midseason Top 25 in early January. In early February, the John R. Wooden Award will announce one final leading candidate list—the Late Season Top 20—prior to the selection of 15 players to the National Ballot. Nearly 1000 voters will rank order 10 of those 15 players, who have been qualified as meeting the standards set forth by Coach Wooden. Voting will open prior to the start of the NCAA Tournament and will allow voters to take into consideration performance during the early round games. The Wooden Award All American Team will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the John R. Wooden Award will be announced during the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show presented by Wendy's on Friday, April 8, 2016.
About the John R. Wooden Award
The 40th annual presentation of the John R. Wooden Award will take place during the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show presented by Wendy's. Texas Tech Head Men's Basketball Coach, Tubby Smith, will be presented with the Legends of Coaching trophy during the show as well. The Wooden Award Weekend, April 7-9, 2016, will honor the male and female Wooden Award winners, the top 5 All Americans, and the Legends of Coaching recipient, Coach Tubby Smith.
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), Candace Parker ('07 and '08), Kevin Durant ('07), Maya Moore ('09 and '11), Trey Burke ('13) and Doug McDermott ('14). Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky won the 2015 John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy's.
– Maryland –
