10 Wooden Award Finalists Named; Two Players Omitted Due to Grades

Ten finalists for the Los Angeles Athletic Club’s John Wooden Award were announced on national television during halftime of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament final Sunday.

Four of the finalists were unanimous choices, as selected by a 20-member advisory board. There are Steve Alford of Indiana, David Robinson of Navy, Kenny Smith of North Carolina and Reggie Williams of Georgetown.

Other finalists are Dallas Comegys of DePaul, Armon Gilliam of Nevada Las Vegas, Dennis Hopson of Ohio State, Mark Jackson of St. John’s, Kenny Norman of Illinois and Charles Smith of Pittsburgh, the only junior on the list.

UCLA’s Reggie Miller just missed out, tying for 11th with Derrick Chievous of Missouri and Kevin Houston of Army.

The Wooden Award winner will be selected by a vote of more than 1,000 sportswriters and broadcasters nationwide.

In recent years, the award winner was announced during the ACC tournament, but this year the winner will be announced on April 1, two days after the NCAA tournament championship game.

Another new aspect of the award is that candidates must maintain a 2.0 grade-point average. It’s a requirement that was requested by Wooden, said award chairman Duke Llewellyn.

During the announcement of the finalists Sunday, Wooden said Danny Manning of Kansas and Horace Grant of Clemson were ineligible because of their grades. Wooden called them “fine young men” who otherwise definitely would have made the list of finalists.