The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB's Robert Vaden Selected As Wooden Award Candidate
11/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 7, 2008
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB senior guard/forward Robert Vaden has been selected as a candidate for the 2009 John R. Wooden Award All-American Team and Player of the Year trophy, as announced today by Richard "Duke" Llewellyn, Wooden Award Chairman and founder. The list is composed of 50 student athletes who, based on last year's individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college basketball's most prestigious honor.
"This is outstanding recognition for Robert and our basketball program," UAB head coach Mike Davis said. "Robert has worked extremely hard to earn this, and I am really proud of him. There is no doubt that he is one of the top players in the country, and I am glad the Wooden award recognized him."
Vaden enters this season coming off arguably one of the best campaigns in UAB school history. The 2008-09 Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year helped lead the Blazers to a 23-11 overall record and a 12-4 mark in league play. As a result, the Blazers earned their 22nd postseason appearance and advanced to the second round of the 2008 National Invitation Tournament.
As a junior, Vaden, who transferred from Indiana in 2006, toppled many single-season records. The Indianapolis, Ind. native finished the 2007-08 campaign with single-season school marks of points (695), threes made (142) and threes attempted (355). His marks from beyond the arc also set the single-season records for Conference USA and placed him second and fifth in the nation in three-pointers made and attempted, respectively.
Vaden also finished the year ranked among the top-10 single-season UAB performances for points per game average (21.1, T2nd), field goals made (220, 8th), field goals attempted (539, 4th), free throw percentage (86.3, 4th) and minutes played (1,170, 4th).
He is one of three Conference USA players to earn the recognition, as Stefon Jackson of UTEP and Memphis' Robert Dozier were also tabbed to the list. In all, 42 schools and 13 conferences are represented on the Wooden Award Preseason list.
In mid-January, the Wooden Award Committee will release the Midseason Top 30 list, followed in March by the National Ballot, consisting of approximately 20 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. The Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced the week of the "Elite Eight" round during the NCAA Tournament.
The 33rd annual Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the announcement of the Men's and Women's Wooden Award, and the presentation of the Wooden Award All-American Teams, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club in April 2009.
Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 List (Based on a preseason poll)
A.J. Abrams, G, Sr., Texas
Wink Adams, G, Sr., UNLV
DeJuan Blair, F, Soph., Pittsburgh
Jon Brockman, F, Sr., Washington
Derrick Brown, F, Jr., Xavier
Chase Budinger, F, Jr., Arizona
Nick Calathes, G/F. Soph., Florida
Dionte Christmas, G, Sr., Temple
Earl Clark, F, Jr., Louisville
Sherron Collins, G, Jr., Kansas
Darren Collison, Sr., UCLA
Lee Cummard, G-F, Sr., BYU
Stephen Curry, G, Jr., Davidson
Devan Downey, G, Jr., South Carolina
Robert Dozier, F, Sr., Memphis
Wayne Ellington, G, Jr., North Carolina
Jonny Flynn, G, Soph., Syracuse
Taj Gibson, F, Jr., USC
Blake Griffin, F-C, Soph., Oklahoma
Tyler Hansbrough, F-C, Sr., North Carolina
Luke Haragody, F-C, Jr., Notre Dame
James Harden, G, Soph., Arizona State
Gerald Henderson, G/F, Jr., Duke
Lester Hudson, G, Sr., UT Martin
Robbie Hummel, F, Soph., Purdue
Stefon Jackson, G, Sr., UTEP
Dominic James, G, Sr., Marquette
Damion James, F, Jr., Texas
Curtis Jerrells, G, Sr., Baylor
James Johnson, F, Soph., Wake Forest
Marcus Landry, F, Sr., Purdue
Ty Lawson, G, Jr., North Carolina
Eric Maynor, G, Sr., VCU
Jack McClinton, G, Sr., Miami
Jerel McNeal, G, Sr., Marquette
Patrick Mills, G, Soph., St. Mary's
Raymar Morgan, F, Jr., Michigan State
A.J. Ogilvy, F-C, Soph., Vanderbilt
Jeremy Pargo, G, Sr., Gonzaga
Patrick Patterson, F, Soph., Kentucky
A.J. Price, G, Sr., UConn
Scottie Reynolds, G, Jr., Villanova
Tyrese Rice, G, Sr., Boston College
Kyle Singler, F, Soph., Duke
Tyler Smith, F, Jr., Tennessee
DaJuan Summers, F, Jr., Georgetown
Hasheem Thabeet, C, Jr., UConn
Robert Vaden, G/F, Sr., UAB
Terrence Williams, F, Sr., Louisville
Sam Young, F, Jr., Pittsburgh
