Jan. 28, 2004
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech’s B.J. Elder has been named to the mid-season list of 30 candidates for the John R. Wooden Award, the Wooden Award Committee announced Tuesday.
The 6-4 junior from Madison, Ga., celebrated the occasion Tuesday night by scoring a career-high 36 points in the Yellow Jackets’ 76-69 victory over Clemson. He went 12-for-20 from the floor, a career best for field goals made, tied a career best with six three-point field goals, and went 6-for-7 from the foul line.
Elder, who surpassed 1,000 career points a week ago, leads Tech and ranks fifth in the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring average at 15.8 points per game. He also ranks 10th in the league in three-point percentage (35.3 percent) and eighth in three-point field goals per game (1.89).
Elder is one of nine players who were not on the Wooden Award’s pre-season list of candidates.
Ten NCAA conferences are represented on the list, including the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-10, Big East, Atlantic 10, SEC, Conference USA, Mountain West Conference and the West Coast Conference. The best-represented conferences include the Big East, which boasts six players on the list, and the ACC with five players, followed by the Pac-10 and SEC with four candidates each.
The Committee bases the Midseason Top 30 on individual player performance and team records through the early part of the season. Players who do not make the list are still eligible for consideration for the Wooden Award. After each school accredits their respective athlete(s) and ensures they meet the academic requirements, the Committee will pare the list down to a ballot consisting of approximately 20 players. The official ballot will be released in early March.
The 2004 Award ceremony, which will include the presentation of the Wooden Award All-American Team, the inaugural Women’s Wooden Award and the presentation of the Legends of Coaching Award, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on Saturday, April 10, 2004 and will be broadcast live on a CBS telecast. The All-American Team will be announced on March 30, 2003 and the top five candidates will be invited to Los Angeles for the Awards ceremony. Each finalist will receive a contribution from the John R. Wooden Award Scholarship Fund in their name to their university’s general scholarship fund.
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 university that he is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.00 GPA. Previous winners include such notables as Michael Jordan (’84), Larry Bird (’79), Tim Duncan (’97) and last year’s recipient, T.J. Ford (’03).
John R. Wooden Award All-American Team – Midseason Top 30 Candidates
(Based on a midseason poll. Players listed alphabetically.)
Rafael Arauio 6’11” Sr. C BYU Andre Barrett 5’10” Sr. G Seton Hall Travis Diener 6’1″ Jr. G Marquette Ike Diogu 6’8″ So. F Arizona State Chris Duhon 6’1″ Sr. G Duke B.J. Elder 6’4″ Jr. G/F Georgia Tech Andre Emmett 6’5″ Sr. F Texas Tech Gerald Fitch 6’3″ Sr. G Kentucky Matt Freije 6’9″ Sr. F Vanderbilt Francisco Garcia 6’7″ So. F Louisville Ryan Gomes 6’8″ Jr. F Providence Ben Gordon 6’2″ Jr. G Connecticut Devin Harris 6’3″ Jr. G Wisconsin Julius Hodge 6’6″ Jr. G North Carolina State Kris Humphries 6’8″ Fr. F Minnesota Andre Iguodala 6’6″ So. F Arizona Luke Jackson 6’7″ Sr. F Oregon David Lee 6’8″ Jr. F Florida Matt Lottich 6’4″ Sr. G Stanford Jason Maxiell 6’7″ Jr. F Cincinnati Sean May 6’9″ So. F/C North Carolina Jameer Nelson 6’1″ Sr. G St. Joseph’s Emeka Okafor * 6’9″ Jr. F/C Connecticut Julius Page 6’3″ Sr. G Pittsburgh Chris Paul 6’0″ Fr. G Wake Forest Lawrence Roberts 6’9″ Jr. F Mississippi State Romain Sato 6’5″ Sr. G Xavier Wayne Simien 6’8″ Jr. F Kansas Ronny Turiaf 6’10” Jr. F Gonzaga Hakim Warrick 6’9″ Jr. F Syracuse
* Indicates player was a 2002-2003 John R. Wooden Award All-American.
