2013-14 John R. Wooden Award women’s ballot announced, includes 15 players
The John R. Wooden Award Women’s Ballot was announced today by The Los Angeles Athletic Club. Selected by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board, the ballot is made up of 15 student-athletes who are eligible for college basketball’s most prestigious honor. All balloted players have proven to their universities that they are making progress toward graduation and are maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA. The men’s ballot will be released Saturday.
The Wooden Award All American Team, consisting of the nation’s top five players, will be announced the week of the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA Tournament after voting by hundreds of media members from March 12 through 25. The Wooden Award is unique in that voters may take into account play through the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The John R. Wooden Award Player of the Year will be announced as part of the 38th annual Wooden Award Gala presented by Wendy’s weekend April 10-12, 2014 at The Los Angeles Athletic Club. The event 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, this year given to Stanford Head Women’s Basketball Coach Tara VanDerveer.
Two players return to the ballot from the five-player All American team in 2013: senior Chiney Ogwumike of Stanford and senior Odyssey Sims of Baylor. Both players have carried their teams this season to top national rankings and conference titles albeit in different ways. Ogwumike is the nation’s no. 3 scorer (27.1, all stats through 3/2) and eighth-ranked rebounder (12.0) as an offensive and defensive force in the post for the Cardinal. Arguably the nation’s top guard, Sims is the leading scorer in the country at 30.2 points per game, and has made 87 three-pointers on the season.
Connecticut, the number one ranked team in the country, placed three players on the ballot: Stefanie Dolson, Bria Hartley and Breanna Stewart. Notre Dame was the only other school with multiple players balloted, Jewell Loyd and Kayla McBride. Only one freshman was chosen, North Carolina’s dynamic forward Diamond DeShields, who averages 17.7 points and 5.5 rebounds.
The ACC and The American lead the way in terms of conferences, with five selections from the ACC and four from The American. The Big Ten had three, followed by the Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC each with one player named to the ballot.
2013-14 John R. Wooden Award Women’s Ballot
| Name | Height | Class | Position | University | Conference |
| Rachel Banham | 5-9 | Jr. | G | Minnesota | Big Ten |
| Diamond DeShields | 6-1 | Fr. | G | North Carolina | ACC |
| Stefanie Dolson | 6-5 | Sr. | C | UConn | The American |
| Bria Hartley | 5-8 | Sr. | G | UConn | The American |
| Jordan Hooper | 6-2 | Sr. | F | Nebraska | Big Ten |
| Tricia Liston | 6-1 | Sr. | G | Duke | ACC |
| Jewell Loyd | 5-10 | So. | G | Notre Dame | ACC |
| Maggie Lucas | 5-10 | Sr. | G | Penn State | Big Ten |
| Kayla McBride | 5-11 | Sr. | G | Notre Dame | ACC |
| Tiffany Mitchell | 5-9 | So. | G | South Carolina | SEC |
| Chiney Ogwumike# | 6-4 | Sr. | F | Stanford | Pac-12 |
| Shoni Schimmel | 5-6 | Jr. | G | Louisville | The American |
| Odyssey Sims# | 5-8 | Sr. | G | Baylor | Big 12 |
| Breanna Stewart | 6-4 | So. | F | UConn | The American |
| Alyssa Thomas | 6-2 | Sr. | F | Maryland | ACC |
(Players listed alphabetically.)
# indicates player chosen to the 2013 Wooden Award All American Team
