March 10, 2008

LOS ANGELES - The 2008 Women's John R. Wooden Award ballot, comprised of 17 top student-athletes, was announced at The Los Angeles Athletic Club by John R. Wooden Award Chairman Richard "Duke" Llewellyn. The Wooden Award winner will be announced on Saturday, April 12, during a special ceremony at The Los Angeles Athletic Club.

A panel of more than 300 voters, comprised of sports media members and college basketball experts from around the nation, have until 3 p.m. EST on Monday, March 31 to cast their votes for the five-member women's All-American Team and Player of the Year, a long voting period that allows voters to evaluate players up through the first several rounds of the NCAA Tournament. All players on the ballots have proven to their universities that they are making progress toward graduation and are maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA.

2007 Women's Wooden Award winner Candace Parker, of Tennessee, returns to the women's ballot. She is joined by returning Wooden All-Americans Courtney Paris of Oklahoma and Sylvia Fowles of LSU. The 6-4 Parker, who can play any position on the court, is averaging 21.1 points and 8.5 rebounds for the No. 3-ranked Lady Vols. A U.S. National Team member in 2007, she has announced that this will be her final year of college basketball, as she will graduate this spring.

Paris, a two-time Big 12 Conference Player of the Year, averages 18.3 points and 14.4 rebounds for the Sooners. A 6-6 center, Fowles leads LSU in scoring (17.4 points) and rebounds (8.6). Her LSU team fell to Tennessee last night in the finals of the SEC Tournament, but won the SEC regular season title by virtue of a win last month over the Lady Vols.

Connecticut ( Tina Charles and Maya Moore) and Maryland (Kristi Toliver and Crystal Langhorne) were the only two schools with two balloted players. The Big East Conference had four players chosen to the women's slate, followed by the ACC, SEC and Big 12 with three, the Sun Belt with two, and the Pac-10 and Big Sky with one apiece.

The 2008 Award ceremony, which will include the presentation of the Men's and Women's Wooden Award winners, the Wooden Award All-American Teams, and the Legends of Coaching Award to Pat Summitt of the University of Tennessee, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club the weekend of April 11-12. 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 LSU's Seimone Augustus and returning player Candace Parker of Tennessee.

Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed nearly one million dollars to universities' general scholarship fund in the names of the All-American recipients and has sent more than 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 players, takes place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on the Friday of the John R. Wooden Award weekend.

For more information on the John R. Wooden Award, please contact Christin Maxwell at 213-630-5291/woodenaward@laac.net or visit www.WoodenAward.com. Media may visit the website or contact Linda Reid at 310-291-9205/lindreid@aol.com.

Women's Wooden Award 2008 Official Ballot

* Indicates player was a 2006-07 Wooden All-American