The 2011 Preseason Wooden Award List has been released

The Wooden Award released their list of their preseason top 50 candidates. Browsing through the list below, keep in mind that transfers and freshmen were not eligible for the preseason list. Names with an asterisk next to it were on the 2010 Wooden Award list.



There are a couple of fairly notable omissions. The biggest, in my mind, is Kevin Jones. Jones, a junior power forward from West Virginia, averaged 13.5 ppg and 7.2 rpg for a Final Four team last season. That Final Four team lost Devin Ebanks and Da'Sean Butler, meaning that the talented Jones -- a potential first round pick -- will have to carry a much greater work load this season.

And he's not one of the top 50 returners in the country?

Where is Morehead State's Kenneth Faried? True, he plays in the Ohio Valley Conference, but he's also all over the radar of NBA teams to say nothing of the fact that he averaged an absurd 17 ppg, 13 rpg, and nearly 2 spg and 2 bpg last season.

What about Florida's Chandler Parsons? Or UNC's Tyler Zeller? Or Ole Miss' Chris Warren? Or even Xavier's Tu Holloway? Where are they?

Nothing against Ty Abbott, Brandon Triche, Nikola Vucevic, or Tyler Honeycutt, but I certainly would have voted differently.

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The Wooden Award Midseason Top 30

Here are the 30 players on the Wooden Award's Midseason list, with an extra spot for Evan Turner as the 31st player.

Cole Aldrich, Kansas
Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest
James Anderson, Oklahoma State
Trevor Booker, Clemson
Matt Bouldin, Gonzaga
Da’Sean Butler, West Virginia
Sherron Collins, Kansas
Ed Davis, North Carolina
Jerome Dyson, UConn
Jimmer Fredette, BYU
Luke Harangody, Notre Dame
Manny Harris, Michigan
Gordon Hayward, Butler
Xavier Henry, Kansas
Darington Hobson, New Mexico
Robbie Hummel, Purdue
Damion James, Texas
Wesley Johnson, Syracuse
Jeremy Lin, Harvard
Kalin Lucas, Michigan State
Greg Monroe, Georgetown
Patrick Patterson, Kentucky
Quincy Pondexter, Washington
Scottie Reynolds, Villanova
Omar Samhan, Saint Mary’s
Jon Scheyer, Duke
Kyle Singler, Duke
Klay Thompson, Washington State
Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State
John Wall, Kentucky
* Evan Turner, Ohio State

I couple of thoughts on the list:

• Where is Jacob Pullen? Pullen is averaging 20.1 ppg and 3.6 apg while shooting 45.8% from three (and making more than three per game) for a Kansas State Wildcat team that is 13-1 and ranked in the top 15 with wins over Dayton, Xavier, and at UNLV and Alabama. In those four wins? Pullen is averaging 25.0 ppg and shooting 17-31, or 54.8%, from three. And he isn't one of the top 30 31 players in the country?


• Three players on this list are from Kansas - Sherron Collins, Xavier Henry, and Cole Aldrich. Duke (Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer) and Kentucky (John Wall and Patrick Pattersn) both have two players nominated.


• The Big East leads the way with six nominees, while both the Big XII and the ACC have five nominees, the Big Ten has four, and the SEC three. The WCC, Pac-10, and MWC both have two nominees, while the Horizon (Gordon Hayward) and the Ivy (Jeremy Lin) both have one.


• John Wall and Xavier Henry are the only freshman on the list.
  


• For my money, John Wall is the favorite right now, followed by Wes Johnson, Damion James, Da'Sean Butler, and Jon Scheyer.
  

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