University of Tennessee Athletics
VOTE FOR CANDACE PARKER FOR 2007 WOODEN AWARD
March 18, 2007 | Women's Basketball
March 18, 2007
Vote Now For The 2007 Wooden Award! | Voting Results
LOS ANGELES - The John R. Wooden Award announced last week that for the first time in the 31 year history of the award, college basketball fans are able to cast their vote for the Wooden Award Player of the Year. In just a week, over 19,000 fans have voiced their opinions through text messaging and online voting at WoodenAward.com.
All fan votes will be tabulated and counted as one ballot towards the actual final tally. Fans who submit votes via text messaging will be entered into a sweepstakes to win a VIP experience for two at the Wooden Award Presentation Gala. The Wooden Watch is your source to track the fan vote for Wooden Award player of the year as well as an inside look at the award candidates. Inform your friends and fellow fans that they can stay up-to-date as well by signing up for the "Wooden Watch" at www.WoodenAward.com.
University of Tennessee basketball star Candace Parker has been named one of 16 finalists for the John R. Wooden Award, the award committee announced Tuesday. The Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American will lead fourth-ranked Tennessee into the upcoming NCAA Tournament, where the Lady Vols seek a seventh national title. A sophomore from Naperville, Ill., Parker leads the team in scoring, rebounding and shot blocking this season. She ranks in the SEC's top-10 in seven different statistical categories and earlier this season became the fastest Lady Vol to achieve 1,000 career points. She and Middle Tennessee's Chrissy Givens are the only two women on the list to boast Academic All-America and conference Player of the Year accolades.
Parker has also been named to the 2007-08 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team. Seven NCAA conferences are represented on the list, including the Atlandtic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, Pac-10, SEC, and Sun Belt. The best represented conferences include the ACC with five candidates and the SEC which has four selections. More than 200 voters, comprised of sports media members and women's college basketball experts across the nation, will vote (deadline is March 26) for the five-member All-American team and Wooden Award, which honors the most outstanding female collegiate basketball player in the nation. For the first time in Wooden Award history, college basketball fans will be able to cast their vote for the Wooden Award Player of the Year. All fan votes will be tabulated and counted as one ballot toward the actual final tally. Fans will have the option of voting on WoodenAward.com or by text messaging from their cell phones.
On Wednesday, March 28, the five player Women's Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced. The 2007 award ceremony, which will include the presentation of the Men's and Women's Wooden Award, the Wooden Award All-American Teams, and the Legends of Coaching Award to recipient Gene Keady of Purdue University, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on April 7, 2007. The top five male and female finalists will be invited to Los Angeles for the awards ceremony and will receive a contribution from The Los Angeles Athletic Club for their university's general scholarship fund. About the John R. Wooden Award 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 or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include such notables as Larry Bird ('79), Michael Jordan ('84), Tim Duncan ('97), Andrew Bogut ('05), and last year's recipients, Seimone Augustus ('06) and J.J. Redick. Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed close to a million dollars to universities' general scholarship fund in the names of the All-American recipients as well as sent over 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps in the award's name. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament, which brings together Special Olympic athletes and the All-American selections, takes place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on the Friday prior to the John R. Wooden Award Ceremony.
