Oct. 3, 2011
2011-12 Wooden Award Watch List (PDF)
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern senior forward John Shurna (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West) has been selected to the watch list for the 2011-12 John R. Wooden Award as announced by the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
Chosen by a preseason poll of national college basketball media members, the list is comprised of 50 student-athletes who, based on last year's individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college basketball's most prestigious honor.
Transfers, freshmen and medical redshirts are not eligible for the Preseason list. The players on the Preseason list are considered strong candidates for the Midseason list and the official voting ballot, both of which are open to freshman and transfer students. The 36th annual Wooden Award ceremony will include the presentation of the Wooden Award All-American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award. It will take place the weekend of April 6-8, 2012.
This is the second straight year that Shurna has been named to the Wooden Award watch list. Last season, he was also named to the Midseason Top 30 list for the honor. He is joined on this year's watch list by eight other Big Ten players: William Buford, Aaron Craft and Jared Sullinger of Ohio State, Tim Hardaway Jr. of Michigan, Robbie Hummel of Purdue, Jordan Taylor of Wisconsin, Draymond Green of Michigan State and Trevor Mbakwe of Minnesota.
Shurna averaged a team-best 16.6 points per game as well as 4.9 rebounds per contest last season in helping the Wildcats tie a program record with 20 wins while advancing to the quarterfinal round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). He averaged 24.4 points per game and shot 62.5 percent (30-48) from 3-point range through the team's first nine contests before suffering an ankle injury that limited him the rest of the season.
He has guided NU to three straight postseason berths an was a third-team All-Big Ten pick in 2010-11 after earning second-team accolades as a sophomore.
Shurna has earned preseason All-America recognition heading into his final season. Sporting News has named him a second-team selection, while Athlon Sports has named him to its third team.
He enters his final year at Northwestern 523 points shy of tying the school's career scoring record of 1,900 points which is held by Billy McKinney (1974-77).
The Wildcats open their 2011-12 season Nov. 7 with an exhibition contest against Robert Morris (Ill.) before opening the regular season at home against Texas-Pan American Nov. 13.
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award 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 minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include such notables as Larry Bird ('79), Michael Jordan ('84), Tim Duncan ('97), Candace Parker ('07 and '08) and Maya Moore of Connecticut ('09 and `11). BYU's Jimmer Fredette won the men's award in 2011.
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 the weekend of the John R. Wooden Award Ceremony.
Follow the candidates and get the latest news throughout the season by logging on to WoodenAward.com or going to the Wooden Award Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/WoodenAward. For more information on the John R. Wooden Award, please contact the Wooden Award staff at 213-630-5206 or via email at woodenaward@laac.net.
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