Zahui B. Up For Prestigious Wooden Award

MINNEAPOLIS )  gophersports.com – University of Minnesota sophomore center Amanda Zahui B. was named to the John R. Wooden Award Late Season Top 20.

The list is comprised of 20 student-athletes who are the front-runners for college basketball’s player of the year award at roughly two-thirds of the way through 2014-15 season.

The list is chosen by a poll of national women’s college basketball media members.

Zahui B., who is averaging 17.8 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.9 blocks per game, is proving to be one of the top centers in the nation this season, as she is the only player in the country that ranks in the NCAA’s top-16 in double-doubles, blocks per game, rebounds per game and field goal percentage. She ranks fourth in double-doubles (18), sixth in defensive rebounds per game (8.0), seventh in blocks per game (3.9), 10th in rebounds per game (11.5) and 16th in field goal percentage (.561).

In just her sophomore season, Zahui B. is the Gophers’ all-time blocks leader with 202 career blocks, while she is also nine blocks away from breaking her own program single-season blocks record of 105 that she set last season as a rookie. Zahui B. is 40 points away from becoming the 22nd Gopher in program history to join the 1,000-point club with 960 career points. She would be just the fourth Minnesota player to reach the milestone in her second year of play, and would join Lindsay Whalen, Laura Coenen and Rachel Banham.

Zahui has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week three different times in 2014-15 and has also earned National Player of the Week honors from espnW on Jan. 5 after averaging 17.3 points, 15.3 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per game in wins over Nebraska, Purdue and Wisconsin.

Players not chosen to this late season list are eligible for the National Ballot. The National Ballot consists of 15 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.  The Wooden Award All American Team, consisting of the nation’s top five players, will be announced the week of the Final Four.

About the Wooden Award 

Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball.  It is bestowed upon the nation’s best player at an institution of higher education who has proven to his or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA.  Previous winners include such notables as Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97), Candace Parker (’07 and ’08), Kevin Durant (’09) and Maya Moore of Connecticut (’09 and ‘11). Stanford’s Chiney Ogwumike won the 2014 Wooden Award.

Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed close to a million dollars to universities’ general scholarship fund in the names of the All American recipients. The Award has also sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps in the Award’ s name. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament.  The day-long tournament, which brings together Special Olympic athletes and the All Americans, takes place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club the weekend of the John R. Wooden Award Ceremony.