University of North Carolina Athletics
Thompson, Davis Named Preseason Candidates For Wooden Award
August 19, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Aug. 19, 2009
Los Angeles -- University of North Carolina forwards Deon Thompson and Ed Davis are both among the 50 preseason candidates for the 2009-10 John R. Wooden Award All-American Team and Player of the Year trophy, Wooden Award Chairman and founder "Duke" Llewellyn announced today.
The list is comprised of 50 student athletes who, based on last year's individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college basketball's most prestigious honor.
Thompson started 37 of 38 Tar Heel games last season, averaging 10.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per contest. Davis was the first big man off the Carolina bench in 2008-09, averaging 6.7 points and 6.6 rebounds while leading the team with 65 blocked shots.
Luke Harangody of Notre Dame is the only 2009 Wooden All-American returning to college basketball in 2009-10. He returns to South Bend for his final collegiate season and has a chance to become a three-time Wooden All-American.
Returning players from last year's Wooden Award ballot, in addition to Harangody, include Sherron Collins of Kansas, Duke's Kyle Singler and Kalin Lucas of Michigan State. Purdue's Robbie Hummel made the Wooden ballot in 2008.
Transfers, freshmen and medical redshirts are not eligible for the preseason list. These players and others who excel throughout the season will be evaluated and considered for December's midseason list and the official voting ballot released in March.
Nine schools had two players chosen to the Wooden Award preseason Top 50 and all are familiar names to fans who followed college basketball a season ago: Kansas (Collins, Cole Aldrich), Michigan State (Lucas, Raymar Morgan) Duke (Singler, Jon Scheyer), Michigan (DeShawn Sims, Manny Harris), North Carolina (Davis, Thompson), Purdue (Hummel, E'Twaun Moore), Connecticut (Kemba Walker, Jerome Dyson), Villanova (Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher), and West Virginia (Devin Ebanks, Da'Sean Butler).
Eleven conferences are represented on the Wooden Award Preseason List. Leading the way is the Big East (11), followed by the ACC (10), Big 10 (8), SEC (7), Big 12 (6), Pac-10 (3), and Atlantic 10, CAA, Conference USA, WAC and West Coast with one apiece.
