Ohlde, Wecker Named Wooden Award Preseason All-Americans
Aug 13, 2003 | Women's Basketball
LOS ANGELES, Calif. Senior forward Nicole Ohlde and junior forward Kendra Wecker have been selected to the first-ever John R. Wooden Women's Award Preseason All-American team in an announcement by the Los Angeles Athletic Club. The 30-member list also composes the preseason candidates for the inaugural John R. Wooden Women's Award, which will be presented to the most outstanding female collegiate basketball player in March 2004. Only returning players were eligible for the preseason team, although transfers and freshmen as well as other players who excel throughout the season will be evaluated and considered for the Midseason Top 20 List and the National Ballot.
Ohlde and Wecker are among six players from the Big 12 Conference to make the team, which also includes Texas' Stacy Stephens and Heather Schreiber, Colorado's Tera Bjorklund and Texas Tech's Jia Perkins. In all, eight conferences were represented on the list, including league-best seven from the Southeastern Conference. In addition to Kansas State and Texas, four other schools had two honorees, including national champion Connecticut, Final Four participants Duke and Tennessee and Penn State.
The reigning Big 12 Player of the Year, Ohlde was named All-American by three different organizations in 2002-03, including first team by the Associated Press, Kodak and United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). She was also a finalist for the Naismith Player of the Year and State Farm Wade Trophy. The only player in school history to have 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 blocks in a career, Ohlde needs just seven points to surpass Diana Miller as the program's all-time leading scorer.
A first team All-Big 12 selection, Wecker became just the third Wildcat to be named an Associated Press All-American when she was selected to the third team in 2002-03. She was also USBWA All-American and a finalist for the Naismith Player of the Year award. A starter in all 34 games, she averaged 19 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.8 steals per game for the Wildcats.
In mid-January, the Wooden Award Committee will release the Midseason Top 20 List, followed in March by the official voting ballot, consisting of the top 10-15 players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA.
Over 250 voters, comprised of sports media members and women's college basketball experts across the nation, will then cast their votes for the five-member All-American team and Wooden Award honor as the most outstanding female collegiate basketball player in the United States.
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 proven to their university that he/she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners of men's award include such notables as Michael Jordan (1984), Larry Bird (1979), Tim Duncan (1997) and last year's recipient, T.J. Ford (2003).
