ESPNW Release
LOS ANGELES -- The Preseason Top 30 for the John R. Wooden Award were announced Tuesday morning on ESPN's SportsCenter with Husky guard Kelsey Plum making the list. The junior was also a Wooden Award Top 15 Finalist last season.
Plum is coming off a sophomore season where she led the Pac-12 in scoring and was second in the nation in free throws made. She led the Huskies back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007.
This year, even more is expected of Plum as she takes over the point guard role with the graduation of Jazmine Davis. In the opener, Plum scored 25 points, but also dished out eight assists and helped Talia Walton to a career-high 33 points.
The Wooden Top 30 is comprised of 12 seniors, 11 juniors and seven sophomores. Connecticut and South Carolina headline the list with three players each, while seven other teams have two players selected.
From the Pac-12, Plum is joined by Jillian Alleyne of Oregon and Lili Thompson of Stanford.
Players not chosen to the preseason list are eligible for both the midseason list and the National Ballot. The National Ballot consists of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA. The Wooden Award All American Team, consisting of the nation's top five players, will be announced the week of the Final Four.
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.