University of North Carolina Athletics
Cota Named to Wooden Preseason All-America Team
August 3, 1999 | Men's Basketball
August 10, 1999
North Carolina senior point guard Ed Cota is one of 25 players who have been named to the John R. Wooden Preseason All-America Team. It is the second year in a row Cota has been named to the team that is selected by the awards committee at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
The final ballot for the team will be released in February 2000 and the 10-player All-America Team will be announced on March 28, 2000. The Wooden Award, given to the National Player of the Year, will be announced on April 7, 2000.
Carolina is the only school to have three different players win the Wooden Award - Phil Ford in 1978, Michael Jordan in 1984 and Antawn Jamison in 1998.
Cota is third alltime at Carolina and eighth in Atlantic Coast Conference history in assists with 746. He should pass Ford (753) and UNC leader Kenny Smith (768) early this coming season to become the alltime Tar Heel recordholder. Last year, Cota earned second-team All-ACC honors for the second consecutive year after he averaged 10.5 points and 7.4 assists per game.
The Brooklyn, N.Y., native has led the ACC in assists in each of his three seasons. No player in ACC history has ever led the league in assists four times.
Junior center Brendan Haywood was one of 50 players under consideration for the 25-player preseason team.
1999-2000 John R. Wooden Preseason All-America Team
Harold Arceneaux, Sr, F, Weber State
Erick Barkley, So, G, St. John's
Shane Battier, Jr, F, Duke
Cory Bradford, So, G, Illinois
Chris Carrawell, Sr, F, Duke
Mateen Cleaves, Sr, G, Michigan State
Jason Collier, Sr, F, Georgia Tech
* Ed Cota, Sr, G, North Carolina
Khalid El-Amin, Jr, G, Connecticut
Kevin Freeman, Sr, F, Connecticut
A.J. Guyton, Sr, G, Indiana
Tony Harris, Jr, G, Tennessee
Mark Madsen, Sr, F, Stanford
Kenyon Martin, Sr, C, Cincinnati
Hanno Mattola, Sr, F, Utah
Chris Mihm, Jr, C, Texas
Mike Miller, So, F/G, Florida
Terrance Morris, Jr, F, Maryland
Eduardo Najera, Sr, F, Oklahoma
Robert OKelley, Jr, G, Wake Forest
Scoonie Penn, Sr, G, Ohio State
Chris Porter, Sr, F, Auburn
Michael Redd, Jr, G, Ohio State
Quentin Richardson, So, G, DePaul
Matt Santangelo, Sr, G, Gonzaga
