Nic Moore Named To Wooden Award Preseason Top 50
Nov 17 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES (SMU) - SMU senior Nic Moore was named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 for the second year in a row, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced Tuesday. The accolade is college basketball's most prestigious honor for the top player in the country. The list was compiled by a preseason poll of college basketball experts.
Moore was the 2014-15 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year after leading the Mustangs to 27-7 record including the AAC regular season and tournament titles. He was tabbed to repeat the honor in this year's AAC preseason coaches' poll. Last year, Moore was also an All-America Honorable Mention selection after recording team bests in scoring (14.5) and assists (5.1).
SMU was picked to win a second straight AAC championship in the preseason coaches' poll. The Mustangs, who are receiving votes (26th) in the AP poll, opened the season with an 85-50 victory over Sam Houston State and plays at Stanford on Thursday at 10:30 p.m. CT/8:30 p.m. PT on ESPN2.
Moore is the second Mustang named to a national award watch list. Fellow senior Markus Kennedy was named to the 2016 Karl Malone Award Watch List, which recognizes the top power forward in Division I men's college basketball. Both Moore and Kennedy were unanimous preseason All-AAC First Team selections.
The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2016 John R. Wooden Award. The Wooden Award National Advisory Board will select 25 players for the midseason list in early January. The leading candidates will be further pared to 20 top players in early February. Fifteen top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA will be submitted to the voters prior to the NCAA Tournament and voting will take into consideration the opening rounds. The Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced the week of the "Elite Eight" round of the NCAA Tournament.
The 40th annual Wooden Award ceremony will honor the Men's and Women's Wooden Award winners, and will include the presentation of the Wooden Award All-American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, which in 2016 will go to Texas Tech Head Men's Basketball Coach Tubby Smith. He will be awarded the honor at the 2nd Annual ESPN College Basketball Awards Show on April 8, 2016.
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 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), Kevin Durant ('09) and Maya Moore of Connecticut ('09 and `11).
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.
| Name | Height | Class | Position | University | Conference |
| Grayson Allen | 6-5 | Soph. | G | Duke | ACC |
| Zach Auguste | 6-10 | Sr. | F | Notre Dame | ACC |
| Ron Baker# | 6-4 | Sr. | G | Wichita State | Missouri Valley |
| DeAndre' Bembry | 6-6 | Jr. | F | St. Joseph's | Atlantic 10 |
| James Blackmon, Jr. | 6-4 | Soph. | G | Indiana | Big Ten |
| Malcolm Brogdon# | 6-5 | Sr. | G | Virginia | ACC |
| Jaylen Brown | 6-7 | Fr. | F | California | Pac-12 |
| Jalen Brunson | 6-3 | Fr. | G | Villanova | Big East |
| Kyle Collinsworth | 6-6 | Sr. | G | BYU | WCC |
| Kellen Dunham | 6-6 | Jr. | G | Butler | Big East |
| Kris Dunn | 6-4 | Jr. | G | Providence | Big East |
| Perry Ellis | 6-8 | Sr. | F | Kansas | Big 12 |
| Yogi Ferrell | 6-0 | Sr. | G | Indiana | Big Ten |
| Rico Gathers | 6-8 | Sr. | F | Baylor | Big 12 |
| Anthony Gill | 6-8 | Sr. | F | Virginia | ACC |
| Daniel Hamilton | 6-7 | Soph. | G/F | Connecticut | The American |
| A.J. Hammons | 7-0 | Sr. | C | Purdue | Big Ten |
| Nigel Hayes | 6-8 | Jr. | F | Wisconsin | Big Ten |
| Buddy Hield | 6-4 | Sr. | G | Oklahoma | Big 12 |
| Danuel House | 6-7 | Sr. | G | Texas A&M | SEC |
| Brandon Ingram | 6-9 | Fr. | G/F | Duke | ACC |
| Demetrius Jackson | 6-1 | Jr. | G | Notre Dame | ACC |
| Brice Johnson | 6-10 | Sr. | F | North Carolina | ACC |
| Damian Jones | 7-0 | Jr. | C | Vanderbilt | SEC |
| Bronson Koenig | 6-4 | Jr. | G | Wisconsin | Big Ten |
| Skal Labissiere | 6-11 | Fr. | F | Kentucky | SEC |
| Jake Layman | 6-9 | Sr. | F | Maryland | Big Ten |
| Caris LeVert | 6-7 | Sr. | G | Michigan | Big Ten |
| 5-9 | Sr. | G | SMU | The American | |
| Monte Morris | 6-3 | Jr. | G | Iowa State | Big 12 |
| Jamal Murray | 6-4 | Fr. | G | Kentucky | SEC |
| Malik Newman | 6-3 | Fr. | G | Mississippi State | SEC |
| Georges Niang | 6-8 | Sr. | F | Iowa State | Big 12 |
| Marcus Paige | 6-2 | Sr. | G | North Carolina | ACC |
| Gary Payton II | 6-3 | Sr. | G | Oregon State | Pac-12 |
| Jakob Poeltl | 7-0 | Soph. | F | Utah | Pac-12 |
| Taurean Prince | 6-8 | Sr. | F | Baylor | Big 12 |
| Xavier Rathan-Mayes | 6-4 | Soph. | G | Florida State | ACC |
| Domantas Sabonis | 6-11 | Soph. | F | Gonzaga | WCC |
| Ben Simmons | 6-10 | Fr. | F | LSU | SEC |
| D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera | 6-3 | Sr. | G | Georgetown | Big East |
| Kaleb Tarczewski | 7-0 | Sr. | C | Arizona | Pac-12 |
| Isaiah Taylor | 6-3 | Jr. | G | Texas | Big 12 |
| Melo Trimble | 6-3 | Soph. | G | Maryland | Big Ten |
| Tyler Ulis | 5-9 | Soph. | G | Kentucky | SEC |
| Denzel Valentine | 6-5 | Sr. | G | Michigan State | Big Ten |
| Fred VanVleet | 6-0 | Sr. | G | Wichita State | Missouri Valley |
| Tyrone Wallace | 6-5 | Sr. | G | California | Pac-12 |
| Troy Williams | 6-7 | Jr. | F | Indiana | Big Ten |
| Kyle Wiltjer# | 6-10 | Sr. | F | Gonzaga | WCC |
