ASU men’s basketball senior guard Ty Abbott was named a preseason candidate Monday for the 2010-2011 John R. Wooden Award.
The Los Angeles Athletic Club released its preseason list for the award created in 1976 in honor of the late UCLA men’s basketball coach John Wooden and given annually to the nation’s top players in men’s and women’s basketball.
Abbott, a Phoenix native who attended Desert Vista High School, averaged 12.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per game last season en route to a spot on the All Pac-10 first team. Abbott shot 40.4 percent from three-point range in 2009-2010 and averaged nearly 29 minutes per game.
Abbott is in a position to potentially break two ASU records this season. His 90 career starts is 30 short of the school record, 120, and his 101 games played is 30 shy of the record 131.
On top of the list for college basketball’s most prestigious award are four returning seniors: Duke’s Kyle Singler, Purdue’s Robbie Hummel, Michigan State’s Kalin Lucas and Brigham Young’s Jimmer Fredette.
Before leaving for the NBA, Ohio State’s Evan Turner won the award last season, joining elite company including Larry Bird (1979), Michael Jordan (1984) and Tim Duncan (1997).
Six players (including Abbot) represent the Pac-10 on the list, and the Big 10 was represented most with 10 players.
The women’s preseason list will be released later this week.
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