Hansbrough, Lawson on Wooden Watch List

North Carolina junior Tyler Hansbrough and sophomore Ty Lawson were among the preseason candidates announced this week for the 2007-08 John R. Wooden Award. Hansbrough was a Wooden Award All-American last season.

In January, the Wooden Award committee will release the Midseason Top 30 list, followed by the distribution of the National Ballot to more than 1,000 voters in early March. The 10-player Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced the Tuesday after the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament is completed.

The 2008 Award ceremony, which will include the presentation of the Men’s and Women’s John R. Wooden Award, the Wooden Award All-American Teams, and the Legends of Coaching Award to recipient Pat Summitt of the University of Tennessee, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club the weekend of April 11-13, 2008. The top five male and female finalists will be invited to Los Angeles for the Award’s ceremony and will receive a contribution from The Los Angeles Athletic Club for their university’s general scholarship fund. One of these five players will be named the John R. Wooden Award Player of the Year at a live televised announcement from The Club where he is awarded the prestigious five-figured bronze trophy.

All-American Team – Top 50 Candidates

(Based on a preseason poll. Players listed alphabetically.)

Jeff Adrien	6-7	F	Jr.	Connecticut
Ryan Anderson	6-10	F	So.	California
D.J. Augustin	6-10	G	So.	Texas
Patrick Beverley	6-1	G	So.	Arkansas
Jon Brockman	6-7	F	Jr.	Washington
Chase Budinger	6-7	F	So.	Arizona
Jaycee Carroll	6-2	G	Sr.	Utah State
Mario Chalmers	6-1	G	Jr.	Kansas
Darren Collison	6-1	G	Jr.	UCLA
Brandon Costner	6-9	F	So.	NC State
Stephen Curry	6-0	G	So.	Davidson
Eric Devendorf	6-4	G	Jr.	Syracuse
Chris Douglas-Roberts	6-6	G	Jr.	Memphis
Randal Falkner	6-7	F	Sr.	Southern Illinois
Shan Foster	6-6	G/F	Sr.	Vanderbilt
Taj Gibson	6-9	F	So.	USC
James Gist	6-8	F	Sr.	Maryland
Jamont Gordon	6-4	G/F	Jr.	Mississippi State
Kentrell Gransberry	6-9	C	Sr.	South Florida
A.J. Graves	6-1	G	Sr.	Butler
Malik Hairston	6-6	G	Jr	Oregon
Tyler Hansbrough*	6-9	F	Jr.	North Carolina
Richard Hendrix	6-8	F	Jr.	Alabama
Roy Hibbert	7-2	C	Sr.	Georgetown
Dominic James	5-11	G	Jr.	Marquette
Joseph Jones	6-9	F/C	Sr.	Texas A&M
Marcelus Kemp	6-5	G	Sr.	Nevada
Ty Lawson	5-11	G	So.	North Carolina
Courtney Lee	6-5	G/F	Sr.	Western Kentucky
Chris Lofton	6-2	G	Sr.	Tennessee
Derrick Low	6-2	G	Sr.	Washington State
Aleks Maric	6-11	C	Sr.	Nebraska
Eric Maynor	6-2	G	Jr.	VCU
Bo McCalebb	6-0	G	Sr.	New Orleans
Drew Neitzel	6-0	G	Sr.	Michigan State
DeMarcus Nelson	6-4	G	Sr.	Duke
Jeremy Pargo	6-2	G	Jr.	Gonzaga
Jeff Pendergraph	6-9	F	Jr.	Arizona State
Scottie Reynolds	6-2	G	So.	Villanova
Tyrese Rice	6-1	G	Jr.	Boston College
Brandon Rush*	6-6	G	Jr.	Kansas
Josh Shipp	6-5	F	Jr.	UCLA
Sean Singletary	6-0	G	Sr.	Virginia
Jason Thompson	6-11	F	Sr.	Rider
Johnathan Wallace	6-1	G	Sr.	Georgetown
Kyle Weaver	6-6	G	Sr.	Washington State
D.J. White	6-9	F	Sr.	Indiana
Reggie Williams	6-5	F	Sr.	VMI
Terrence Williams	6-6	F	Jr.	Louisville
Martin Zeno	6-5	G	Sr.	Texas Tech

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