LOS ANGELES — LSU senior guard Marcus Thornton was named a finalist for the John R. Wooden Award for college basketball’s player of the year.
Thornton is one of three Southeastern Conference players on the list. The others include Nick Calathes of Florida and Jodie Meeks of Kentucky.
The final ballot was announced Thursday.
Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina, Davidson’s Stephen Curry and Luke Harangody of Notre Dame are among some of the prominent names on the list.Hansbrough, who leads the Atlantic Coast Conference with 21.1 points a game, won the award last year. Curry leads the nation in scoring at 28.6 points, while Harangody is seventh with 23.7 points and fifth in rebounding at 12.1 per game.Also on the ballot is Hansbrough’s teammate, Ty Lawson, along with Pittsburgh teammates DeJuan Blair and Sam Young, and Duke teammates Gerald Henderson and Kyle Singler.Along with eight seniors, Memphis guard Tyreke Evans was the only freshman selected as a finalist.The others are A.J. Abrams of Texas, Jon Brockman of Washington, Nick Calathes of Florida, Sherron Collins of Kansas, UCLA’s Darren Collison, Blake Griffin of Oklahoma, James Harden of Arizona State, Jordan Hill of Arizona, Kalin Lucas of Michigan State, Jerel McNeal of Marquette, Kentucky’s Jodie Meeks, Jeff Teague of Wake Forest, Hasheem Thabeet of Connecticut and Terrence Williams of Louisille.A national panel of more than 1,000 voters has until March 30 to cast ballots, allowing players to be considered through the final eight of the NCAA tournament.The award will be presented April 10 at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Rick Barnes of Texas will receive the Legends of Coaching award.
 
 
 
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