Tennessee senior guard Chris Lofton, Vanderbilt senior guard Shan Foster and junior Mississippi State guard/forward Jamont Gordon were named Sunday to the midseason watch list for the John R. Wooden Award.
The award is given out each year to the most outstanding men’s and women’s college basketball players.
The trophy was created in 1976 and named for legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden.
The midseason list names a total of 30 players.
“This was another year where a lot of players have been surprises,” said Wooden Award Chairman Duke Llewellyn in a news release. “Players across the nation stepped up and made a case for themselves, whether they were veteran players or freshmen.”
The players are selected for their individual performance as well as the overall record of their team through the first half of the season.
The SEC is tied for the fourth-most players with the Big East and Big Ten. The Pac-10 leads all conferences with seven selections.
The final ballot for the award will be released in March and will have approximately 20 players named. The top player will be selected based on the votes of more than 1,000 voters.
No SEC player has ever won the award.
MississippI State remains lone unbeaten
With its blowout win against then-No. 15 Ole Miss, Mississippi State remains the only team with a perfect conference record.
The No. 25 Bulldogs (14-5, 5-0) are on a nine-game winning streak. Their 5-0 conference record is its best since the 1993-1994 season.
The Bulldogs will take their unbeaten streak on the road against Arkansas on Wednesday night.
“Mississippi State is not only one of the hottest teams in our conference, but one of the hottest teams in the country,” said Arkansas coach John Pelphrey. “They’ve won eight in a row, and they’re extremely well-coached.”
Gordon leads the Bulldogs with 17 points and 4.4 assists per game.
Florida one of the league’s most surprising teams
Although all of the key players that led Florida to back-to-back national championships have moved on, the Gators still find themselves atop the standings in the SEC Eastern Division.
The No. 19 Gators (18-3, 5-1) are coming off a weekend in which they defeated No. 18 Vanderbilt by 22 points at home.
Freshman guard Nick Calathes leads Florida in scoring, averaging 16 points a contest.
Second on the team is sophomore center/forward Marreese Speights, who averages 14 points.
The roster consists of 10 underclassmen and no seniors. During Monday’s SEC coaches’ teleconference, Florida coach Billy Donovan commended them on their willingness to be students of the game.
“They’re typical freshmen,” Donovan said. “They make a lot of mistakes, but I would say that the best thing about them is they are eager to get better.”
—-Contact Matt Vines at [email protected]