Marquette University Athletics
Diener named to 2004-05 Wooden Award Preseason Top 50
8/5/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
?After being involved with the John R. Wooden Award process all the way to the final five with Dwyane Wade two seasons ago, there is no more prestigious honor for a college basketball player to receive than this award,? said Marquette head coach Tom Crean. ?When you put Coach Wooden?s name behind something it is going to stand for class, integrity, character, toughness and talent. The players on this list epitomize that and our young man, Travis Diener, takes a backseat to no one. We?re confident Travis can live up to the qualities of being one of the top players in American and are excited to go through this process with him.?
This marks the third consecutive preseason that Marquette has been represented on the early ballot (Dwyane Wade, 2002-03; Travis Diener, 2003-04, 2004-05). Although no Marquette player has won the prestigious award, the school has been represented in the award?s top five and All-American Team twice, by Butch Lee in 1978 and Dwyane Wade in 2003.
After tallying the ballots of the National Preseason Selection Committee, the John R. Wooden Award released the Men?s Wooden Award Preseason All-American Team, composed of 50 student-athletes who, based on last year?s individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college basketball?s most coveted trophy. These Top 50 candidates are comprised of returning players, although transfers and freshmen as well as other players who excel throughout the season will be evaluated and considered for the Midseason Top 30 list and the National Ballot.
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 university that he is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include such notables as Michael Jordan (?84), Larry Bird (?79), Tim Duncan (?97) and last year?s recipient, Jameer Nelson (?04).
Ten NCAA conferences are represented, including the ACC (12 players), Big East (8 players), Big 12 (6 players), Pac 10 (6 players), Big 10, (5 players), SEC (5 players), Conference USA (5 players), West Coast Conference (1 player), Mountain West Conference (1 player), and the American East Conference (1 player).
In mid-January, the Wooden Award committee will release the Midseason Top 30 on CBS Sports, and on Tuesday, March 29th, the ten player Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced. The 2005 Award ceremony, which will include the presentation of the Men?s and Women?s Wooden Award, the Wooden Award All-American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on April 9, 2005 and will be broadcast live on a national CBS telecast.
The top five male and female finalists will receive a contribution from the John R. Wooden Award Scholarship Fund in their name to their university?s general scholarship fund. The Wooden Award scholarship fund was established in 2002 by Applied Materials and corporate partners through the California Community Foundation (CCF) to honor Coach Wooden?s dedication as an educator and mentor. Applied Materials distributed $15,000 last year to each university represented by a men?s and women?s Wooden Award All-American Team finalist (for a total of $150,000). Additional donations to Applied Materials? John R. Wooden Award Scholarship Fund can be made by contacting the scholarship fund through the CCF (www.calfund.org).
For more information and a complete list of the 2004-05 preseason candidates, please contact Matt Draper at 310-578-7050 or via email at draper@formulapr.com, or visit www.WoodenAward.com.
>
