OMAHA, Neb. -- Creighton basketball standout Doug McDermott is one of 15 finalists for the John R. Wooden Award. The Ames, Iowa, product is Creighton's first Wooden Award finalist since Kyle Korver in 2002-03.

McDermott ranks third nationally with his 23.2 scoring average and seventh with his 61.0 percent shooting from the floor. He also ranks second in the MVC with 8.2 rebounds per game and 49.5 percent marksmanship from three-point range. McDermott owns a Creighton-record 765 points this season, and scored 33 points in Sunday's MVC Tournament title game victory over Illinois State that clinched a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

All 15 players on the Wooden Award list have proven to their universities that they are making progress toward graduation and are maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA, an important component of the Award insisted upon by Coach Wooden. The Wooden Award All-American Teams will be announced the week of the "Elite Eight" round of the NCAA Tournament, making the Wooden Award unique among college postseason awards. Voters have until Monday, March 19 at Noon PDT to return their ballots, allowing them to take into consideration performance during the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

The 36th annual Wooden Award Gala, will take place on Friday, April 6, 2012, and will honor winners, All Americans and the Legends of Coaching winner Geno Auriemma of Connecticut. The John R. Wooden Award winner will be announced on ESPN the weekend of the Final Four in New Orleans, Louisiana.


About the John R. Wooden Award
Created in 1976 and named after the Hall of Fame player, coach and teacher, the John R. Wooden Award bills itself as the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation¹s 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 (¹79), Michael Jordan (¹84), Tim Duncan (¹97), Blake Griffin (¹09) and Maya Moore of Connecticut (¹09 and ¹11). BYU¹s Jimmer Fredette was the Wooden Award winner in 2011.