John R. Wooden Award Announces Marist's Rachele Fitz as 2008-09 Preseason Top 30 Candidate
MAAC Sports
Los Angeles?Richard “Duke” Llewellyn, Wooden Award Chairman and founder, announced that Marist College junior forward Rachele Fitz in one of the 2008-09 preseason candidates for the Women’s Wooden Award All-American Team and Player of the Year trophy today. The list is composed of 30 student athletes who, based on last year’s individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college basketball’s most prestigious honor.
Fitz, the 2007-08 MAAC Player of the Year, finished second in the conference in scoring (18.9 ppg), fourth in rebounding (7.6 rpg), first in field goal percentage as she connected on 56.4% of her attempts, and second in free throw percentage (88.1%). Fitz, who has already amassed over 1,000 career points, finished in the top 20 in the nation in both field goal and free throw percentage. She earned Player of the Week honors five times last season.
Two of the candidates selected to this year’s preseason list were honored in 2007-08 as members of the 2008 Women's Wooden Award All-American Team, including three-time All-American Courtney Paris of Oklahoma and Connecticut’s Maya Moore. In addition, five other 2008-09 preseason nominees were named to the women’s Wooden Award National Ballot last year, including Tina Charles (Connecticut), Angel McCoughtry (Louisville), Epiphanny Prince (Rutgers), Andrea Riley (Oklahoma State) and Kristi Toliver (Maryland).
Transfers, freshmen and medical redshirts are not eligible for the preseason list. These players and others who excel throughout the season will be evaluated and considered for January’s Midseason list and the official voting ballot released in March.
The breadth of talent across the country is shown by the number of NCAA Division I schools (25) and conferences (10) highlighted on the list. The Big East boasts eight candidates, followed by the ACC (5), Big 12 (4), Pac-10 (3), SEC (3), Atlantic 10 (2), Big Ten (2), Conference USA (1), MAAC (1) and the West Coast Conference (1).
Connecticut leads the way as the only program with three players on the preseason list: (Moore, Charles and Renee Montgomery), followed by Maryland (Toliver and Marissa Coleman), California (Devanei Hampton, Ashley Walker) and Rutgers (Prince, Kia Vaughn) with two. In total, 17 seniors, 10 juniors and three sophomores were selected to the Preseason Top 30 List.
In mid-January, the Wooden Award Committee will release the Midseason Top 20 list, followed in March by the National Ballot, consisting of approximately 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. The Women’s Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round during the NCAA Tournament.
The 33rd annual Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the announcement of the Men's and Women's Wooden Award, and the presentation of the Wooden Award All-American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award to Rick Barnes from The University of Texas, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club in April, 2009.
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), and last year’s recipients, Kevin Durant of Texas and Candace Parker of Tennessee (?07 and ?08).
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 awards 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-Americans, takes place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on the Friday prior to the John R. Wooden Award Ceremony.
The Race for the Wooden Award is on! Follow the candidates and get the latest news throughout the season by logging on to www.WOODENAWARD.com. For more information on the John R. Wooden Award, please contact the Wooden Award staff via phone at 213-630-5231 or email at woodenaward@laac.net.