Ellis Named to Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 List
Link Wooden Award Late Season Top 20
LOS ANGELES – Kansas men’s basketball senior Perry Ellis has been named to the John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy’s Late Season Top 20 List, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced Wednesday.
Chosen by a poll of national college basketball experts, the list is comprised of 20 student-athletes who are the frontrunners for the John R. Wooden Award, based on their performances during the 2015-16 season.
Ellishas scored 19 or more points in five of his last six games, including four 20-point efforts. The Wichita, Kansas senior forward is averaging 19.5 points and 6.6 rebounds during Big 12 play, and 16.9 points and 6.5 rebounds overall. Ellis is the only player in the Big 12 to rank in the top-seven in scoring (third) and rebounding (seventh). He has three double-doubles on the season with all coming in conference action. The 2015 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, who was an All-Big 12 First Team selection as a junior, also ranks among the Big 12 leaders in field goal percentage (fifth at 53.0) and free throw percentage (14th at 76.1).
The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2016 John R. Wooden Award. The leading candidates will be further pared to 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA will be submitted to the voters on the ballot prior to the NCAA Tournament. Every year, players have made the ballots that are not on the preseason or midseason lists. Voters are permitted to take into consideration the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament when casting the ballot. The 10-man Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament.
The 40th annual presentation of the John R. Wooden Award will be the anchor presentation of the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show presented by Wendy’s. The men’s and women’s Wooden All-American Teams will be honored during the ceremony, as well as the 2016 Legends of Coaching Award, which will be presented to Tubby Smith, Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Texas Tech. The event will take place the weekend of April 7-9, 2016.
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award program features the most prestigious individual honors in college basketball. The Wooden Award Trophy 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 while maintaining a minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA. The unique Wooden Award trophy is presented to a man and woman each year. Previous winners include such notables as Kansas’ Danny Manning (’88), Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97), Candace Parker (’07 and ’08), Kevin Durant (’09), Maya Moore (’09 and ’11), Trey Burke (’13) and Doug McDermott (’14). Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky won the 2015 Wooden Award presented by Wendy’s and Breanna Stewart of Connecticut won the 2015 Wooden Award.
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed close to a million dollars to the general scholarship fund of the honoree’s University in the name of the All-American recipient. The Award has also enabled more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long basketball camps in the Award’s name. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with the Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament takes place at the Los Angeles Athletic Club the weekend of the John R. Wooden Award presentation, and brings together Special Olympics athletes and the Wooden Award All-Americans.
No. 6/6 Kansas (20-4, 8-3) will travel to No. 3/3 Oklahoma (20-3, 8-3) on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN. For the second time this season KU will be part of ESPN College GameDay which will originate from Norman, Oklahoma, Feb. 13.
WOODEN AWARD LATE SEASON TOP 20
| Name | School | Conference | Ht. | Yr. | Pos. |
| Grayson Allen | Duke | ACC | 6-5 | Soph. | G |
| Malcolm Brogdon# | Virginia | ACC | 6-5 | Sr. | G |
| Kris Dunn | Providence | Big East | 6-4 | Jr. | G |
| PERRY ELLIS | KANSAS | Big 12 | 6-8 | Sr. | F |
| Kahlil Felder | Oakland | Horizon | 5-9 | Jr. | G |
| Yogi Ferrell | Indiana | Big Ten | 6-0 | Sr. | G |
| Buddy Hield | Oklahoma | Big 12 | 6-4 | Sr. | G |
| Brice Johnson | North Carolina | ACC | 6-10 | Sr. | F |
| Damion Lee | Louisville | ACC | 6-6 | Sr. | G |
| Nic Moore | SMU | The American | 5-9 | Sr. | G |
| Georges Niang | Iowa State | Big 12 | 6-8 | Sr. | F |
| Gary Payton II | Oregon State | Pac-12 | 6-3 | Sr. | G |
| Jakob Poeltl | Utah | Pac-12 | 7-0 | Soph. | F |
| Ben Simmons | LSU | SEC | 6-10 | Fr. | F |
| Melo Trimble | Maryland | Big Ten | 6-3 | Soph. | G |
| Tyler Ulis | Kentucky | SEC | 5-9 | Sr. | G |
| Jarrod Uthoff | Iowa | Big Ten | 6-9 | Sr. | F |
| Denzel Valentine | Michigan State | Big Ten | 6-5 | Sr. | G |
| Fred VanVleet | Wichita State | Missouri Valley | 6-0 | Sr. | G |
| Kyle Wiltjer# | Gonzaga | WCC | 6-10 | Sr. | F |
PERRY ELLIS 2015-16 ACCOLADES
Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 / Midseason Top 25 / Preseason Top 50
Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award Finalist (1 of 10) / Watch List
Senior CLASS Award Candidate (Top 30)
Lute Olson Award Mid-Season Watch (1 of 35)
Oscar Robertson Trophy Watch List (1 of 33)
Naismith Trophy Watch List (1 of 50)
Maui Jim Maui Invitational All-Tournament Team
Preseason All-Big 12 First Team
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