NORMAN, Okla. - Oklahoma's Willie Warren is one of 50 players on the list of 2009-10 preseason candidates for the John R. Wooden Award All-American Team and Player of the Year trophy, as announced Wednesday by Wooden Award Chairman and founder Richard "Duke" Llewellyn.
Warren, a 6-4, 199-pound sophomore from Fort Worth, Texas, was a unanimous choice as last season's Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year after averaging 14.6 points and 3.1 assists per game. He shot a team-high .372 from 3-point range and set a school freshman record with 67 treys. The seven-time Big 12 Rookie of the Week scored at least 20 points seven times and surpassed the 30-point mark on two occasions.
Five other Big 12 players are on the preseason Wooden list: Cole Aldrich (Kansas), Craig Brackins (Iowa State), Sherron Collins (Kansas), Damion James (Texas) and J.T. Tiller (Missouri).
The Wooden Award Committee will release the Midseason Top 30 list in late December, followed in March by the national ballot, consisting of approximately 20 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA.
The Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced the week of the "Elite Eight" round of the NCAA Tournament.
The 34th annual Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the announcement of the Men's and Women's Wooden Award winner, and the presentation of the Wooden Award All-American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, will take place the weekend of April 9-11, 2010.
Oklahoma's Blake Griffin won the Wooden Award last season, becoming the first Sooner to do so.
