The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Taylor named to Wooden Award Preseason Top 50
11.17.2015 | Men's Basketball
Junior point guard named to prestigious list.
LOS ANGELES — University of Texas junior point guard Isaiah Taylor has been named to the John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy's Preseason Top 50, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced Tuesday. Chosen by a panel of national college basketball experts, the list is comprised of 50 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for college basketball's most prestigious individual honor.
Taylor, who earned All-Big 12 Third Team honors as a sophomore in 2014-15, led the team in scoring (13.1 ppg), assists (4.6 apg), steals (23) and minutes (31.5) last year. In UT's season opener against Washington (Nov. 13), he tied his career high in scoring with 27 points, converting 7-of-16 field goals and a career-best 12-of-15 free throws, while adding seven rebounds in 28 minutes.
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 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 placed on the ballot and submitted to voters prior to the NCAA Tournament. Voting will take into account play during the opening rounds of the tourney.
The Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced the week of the "Elite Eight" round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the John R. Wooden Award will be announced during the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show presented by Wendy's on Friday, April 8, 2016.
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. The event will take place the weekend of April 7-9, 2016. Texas has had two prior Wooden Award winners: T.J. Ford in 2003 and Kevin Durant in 2007.
Taylor and the Longhorns return to action in their home opener against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday, Nov. 21. Tip is set for 7 p.m. at the Frank Erwin Center, and the game will be televised nationally by Longhorn Network.
2015-16 John R. Wooden Award Presented by Wendy's Preseason Top 50
Grayson Allen (Duke), Zach Auguste (Notre Dame), Ron Baker (Wichita State), DeAndre' Bembry (St. Joseph's), James Blackmon Jr. (Indiana), Malcolm Brogdon (Virginia), Jaylen Brown (California), Jalen Brunson (Villanova), Kyle Collinsworth (BYU), Kellen Dunham (Butler), Kris Dunn (Providence), Perry Ellis (Kansas), Yogi Ferrell (Indiana), Rico Gathers (Baylor), Anthony Gill (Virginia), Daniel Hamilton (Connecticut), A.J. Hammons (Purdue), Nigel Hayes (Wisconsin), Buddy Hield (Oklahoma), Danuel House (Texas A&M), Brandon Ingram (Duke), Demetrius Jackson (Notre Dame), Brice Johnson (North Carolina), Damian Jones (Vanderbilt), Bronson Koenig (Wisconsin), Skal Labissiere (Kentucky), Jake Layman (Maryland), Caris LeVert (Michigan), Nic Moore (SMU), Monte Morris (Iowa State), Jamal Murray (Kentucky), Malik Newman (Mississippi State), Georges Niang (Iowa State), Marcus Paige (North Carolina), Gary Payton II (Oregon State), Jakob Poeltl (Utah), Taurean Prince (Baylor), Xavier Rathan-Mayes (Florida State), Domantas Sabonis (Gonzaga), Ben Simmons (LSU), D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera (Georgetown), Kaleb Tarczewski (Arizona), Isaiah Taylor (TEXAS), Melo Trimble (Maryland), Tyler Ulis (Kentucky), Denzel Valentine (Michigan State), Fred VanVleet (Wichita State), Tyrone Wallace (California), Troy Williams (Indiana), Kyle Wiltjer (Gonzaga).
