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Chris Wright is already the UD career dunk record holder. |
Complete Wooden Release
LOS ANGELES - University of Dayton forward Chris Wright is one of the top college basketball players named to the John Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 list, it was announced today. The preseason candidates for the John R. Wooden Award All-American Team and Player of the Year trophy were released Monday by the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
This is the third straight year Dayton has had a player on the Wooden List. Brian Roberts was on the 2008 Midseason Top 30 List, and Wright was also on last year’s Preseason List.
Wright is one of eight players on the 2010-11 list who was also included on last season’s Wooden Preseason Squad. Also repeating this season are Corey Fisher (Villanova), Jeremy Hazell (Seton Hall), Robbie Hummel (Purdue), Kalin Lucas (Michigan State), Kyle Singler (Duke), Isaiah Thomas (Washington) and Kemba Walker (Connecticut).
A member of this summer’s USA Basketball Select Team, Wright is entering a senior season that will cap one of the most memorable careers in a Dayton uniform. The Trotwood, Ohio native is 32nd in career scoring at UD with 1,127 points in just 87 games, and is a two-time NABC All-District selection. Named First Team All-Atlantic 10 in 2009-10, Wright averaged 13.7 points and 7.3 rebounds a game.
Wright also led the team in minutes (28.6), dunks (a school-record 68), blocked shots (a school-record 53), free throws attempted (185) and free throws made (125). He led UD with 29 double-figure games in 2009-10.
The Flyers have won 75 games since Wright came to the University of Dayton campus for the 2007-08 seasons. With Wright in the lineup, Dayton has defeated 10 BCS teams, including four straight in this year’s run to the NIT title.
Dick Vitale has already tabbed him a Third Team Preseason All-American.
Wright headlines a group of four players on the list from the Atlantic 10 Conference. Joining Wright on the team are Lavoy Allen of Temple, Kevin Anderson of Richmond, and Damian Saunders of Duquesne.
Dayton returns nine letterwinners from last year’s 25-12 team. Along with Wright is NIT MVP Chris Johnson. Johnson, a junior from Columbus, Ohio, was second to Wright on the team in scoring (11.9) and rebounding (6.9) and led UD in FT% (.848, 84-99). He was the Atlantic 10’s Chris Daniels Memorial Most Improved Player Award winner in 2010.
The Flyers will also welcome five additional new faces to the program in 2010-11, led by Oak Hill Academy point guard Juwan Staten.
In late December, the Wooden Award Committee will release the Midseason Top 30 list. The midseason announcement will be followed in March by the National Ballot, consisting of approximately 20 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. The Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round during the NCAA Tournament.
The 35th annual Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the announcement of the Men's and Women's Wooden Award winner, and the presentation of the Wooden Award All-American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, will take place in April 2011.
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 such notables as Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97), Blake Griffin (’09) and Evan Turner (’10).
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed close to a million dollars to universities’ general scholarship fund in the names of the All-American recipients. The Award has also 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-Americans, takes place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on the Friday prior to the John R. Wooden Award Ceremony.
