Kansas’ Andrew Wiggins Named to John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 25
LOS ANGELES – Kansas freshman Andrew Wiggins has been named to the John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 List, the Los Angles Athletic Club announced Wednesday.
Wiggins is one of three Big 12 Conference student-athletes listed – and one of only five freshmen. The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the official voting ballot, which will consist of approximately 20 top players who have proven to their universities that they are making progress toward graduation and maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA. However, players not chosen to the midseason list are still eligible for the ballot. The Wooden Award All American Team, consisting of the nation’s top 10 players, will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament.
Wiggins leads Kansas with a 15.2 scoring average, which also leads the Big 12 freshman class and is 10th overall in the conference. The 6-8 Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, guard has five games of 20-plus points and pulled down a season-high 19 rebounds at then No. 8 Iowa State (1/13). Wiggins is 50-of-59 (84.7 percent) from the free throw line in his last 10 games after hitting 10-of-12 charity shots during his 17-point effort in the win versus No. 23 Baylor on ESPN Big Monday. He has made 20 threes this season, leads KU with 17 steals and his 6.1 rebound average is third on the team.
Last season, Kansas’ Ben McLemore and Jeff Withey were named to the John R. Wooden Award Midseason and final ballot lists. McLemore went on to be named Wooden Award All-American.
No. 8/11 Kansas is 14-4 overall and the only undefeated team in the 2014 Big 12 Conference race at 5-0 heading into its Saturday, Jan. 25 game at TCU. The Jayhawks have defeated four nationally-ranked teams in each of its last four outings, a feat last accomplished by North Carolina in 1996-97.
The John R. Wooden Award Midseason List was announced on ESPN’s SportsCenter and ESPN.com Wednesday and ESPNU will feature the honorees in a half-hour show at 5 p.m. (Central). For the complete list, go to http://www.woodenaward.com/.
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