Oladipo, Zeller named finalists for 2013 Wooden Award
Indiana junior Victor Oladipo and sophomore Cody Zeller are both finalists for the 2013 John R. Wooden Award, the national advisory board for the award announced on Saturday.
Through 30 games, Oladipo is averaging 13.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 2.1 assists and Zeller is averaging 16.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks.
Current Indiana Director of Basketball Operations Calbert Cheaney was the last Hoosier to win the Wooden Award in 1993. Zeller was one of three freshman finalists last season for the award, joining Kentucky’s Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
Here’s the complete press release and list of finalists:
Los Angeles (March 9, 2013)— The John R. Wooden Award Ballot was announced today by The Los Angeles Athletic Club on ESPN College GameDay. Selected by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board, the ballot is made up of 15 student-athletes who are eligible for college basketball’s most prestigious honor. All balloted players have proven to their universities that they are making progress toward graduation and are maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA. The Women’s ballot will be released next week.
Creighton forward Doug McDermott is the only player on this year’s ballot who was a Wooden Award All American in 2012. He is the nation’s No. 2 scorer, at 23.4 ppg, and has taken the Bluejays to a 24-7 record to date this season (through March 4).
The Wooden Award All American Team, consisting of the nation’s top 10 players, will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament. The John R. Wooden Award Player of the Year presented by Wendy’s will be announced on ESPN during the Final Four Weekend in Atlanta. The 2013 Wooden Award Gala presented by Wendy’s will take place April 11-13, 2013, at The Los Angeles Athletic Club. The Gala will honor the Men’s and Women’s Wooden Award winners, All Americans and the Legends of Coaching Award winner, Kansas Head Coach Bill Self.
Among the student-athletes chosen to the Wooden Award ballot were three players who did not make the Midseason Top 25: Gonzaga’s Kelly Olynyk, Indiana’s Victor Oladipo, and Miami’s Shane Larkin. Other notable selections include the nation’s top scorer, Erick Green of Virginia Tech (25.0 ppg), and three freshmen: Anthony Bennett of UNLV, redshirt freshman Ben McLemore of Kansas, and Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart.
Indiana (Oladipo and Cody Zeller) and Kansas (McLemore and Jeff Withey), both ranked in the Associated Press Top 5 this week, were the only programs with more than one player selected to the ballot. In terms of conferences, the Big Ten had four selections, followed by the ACC and Big 12 each with three. The Big East, Mountain West, Missouri Valley Conference, The Summit League, and the WCC had one balloted player each to round out the 15 players chosen. Voting will take place from March 18th through March 25th, allowing voters to account for the first weekend of competition in the NCAA Tournament.
NAME Ht. Yr. Pos. School Conference
Anthony Bennett 6-8 Fr. F UNLV Mountain West
Trey Burke 6-0 So. G Michigan Big Ten
Erick Green 6-3 Sr. G Virginia Tech ACC
Shane Larkin 5-11 So. G Miami (FL) ACC
Doug McDermott* 6-8 Jr. F Creighton Missouri Valley Conference
Ben McLemore 6-5 RFr. G Kansas Big 12
Victor Oladipo 6-5 Jr. G Indiana Big Ten
Kelly Olynyk 7-0 RJr. F Gonzaga WCC
Mason Plumlee 6-10 Sr. F Duke ACC
Otto Porter, Jr. 6-8 So. F Georgetown Big East
Marcus Smart 6-4 Fr. G Oklahoma State Big 12
Deshaun Thomas 6-7 Jr. F Ohio State Big Ten
Jeff Withey 7-0 Sr. C Kansas Big 12
Nate Wolters 6-4 Sr. G South Dakota State The Summit League
Cody Zeller 7-0 So. F Indiana Big Ten
Filed to: Cody Zeller, Victor Oladipo, Wooden Award