ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Junior guard Caris LeVert of the University of Michigan men’s basketball team was named today (Monday, Nov. 17) to the preseason top 50 list for the 2015 John R. Wooden Award as announced by the Los Angeles Athletic Club and ESPN. It is the second preseason national player of the year award preseason list LeVert has been named to after being selected to the Lute Olson Award Watch List last week.
LeVert, who opened the season nearly recording a triple-double (20 pts, 8 reb, 9 ast) against Hillsdale College, is one of seven Big Ten players selected to the preseason list, joining Wisconsin’s Sam Dekker and Frank Kaminsky, Michigan State’s Branden Dawson, Indiana’s Yogi Ferrell, Nebraska’s Terran Petteway and Maryland’s Dez Wells.
LeVert, who was a preseason All-Big Ten selection, had a breakout sophomore campaign as he started all 37 games and averaged 12.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. He helped the Wolverines to their first outright Big Ten title since 1986 as well as a second straight appearance in the NCAA Elite Eight.
The Wooden Award National Advisory Board will select 25 players for the midseason list in early January. Those leading candidates will be further pared to 20 in early February and ultimately 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 grade-point average, will be placed on the ballot and submitted to voters prior to the NCAA Tournament.
The 39th Wooden Award ceremony, to be held April 10-12, will honor the men’s and women’s Wooden Award winners and include the presentation of the Wooden Award All American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, which in 2015 will go to San Diego State head coach Steve Fisher.
2015 John R. Wooden Award Preseason Watch List
Cliff Alexander, Kansas
Brandon Ashley, Arizona
Ron Baker, Wichita State
Ryan Boatright, UConn
Malcolm Brogdon, Virginia
Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky
Branden Dawson, Michigan State
Sam Dekker, Wisconsin
Perry Ellis, Kansas
Yogi Ferrell, Indiana
Marcus Foster, Kansas State
Michael Frazier II, Florida
Treveon Graham, VCU
Jerian Grant, Notre Dame
Olivier Hanlan, Boston College
Montrezl Harrell, Louisville
Aaron Harrison, Kentucky
Andrew Harrison, Kentucky
Tyler Haws, BYU
Buddy Hield, Oklahoma
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Arizona
R.J. Hunter, Georgia State
Stanley Johnson, Arizona
Tyus Jones, Duke
Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin
Caris LeVert, Michigan
Jordan Mickey, LSU
Nic Moore, SMU
Georges Niang, Iowa State
Jahlil Okafor, Duke
Kelly Oubre, Jr., Kansas
Marcus Paige, North Carolina
Kevin Pangos, Gonzaga
Terran Petteway, Nebraska
Bobby Portis, Arkansas
Chasson Randle, Stanford
Terry Rozier, Louisville
Wesley Saunders, Harvard
Josh Scott, Colorado
Wayne Selden, Jr., Kansas
D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, Georgetown
Juwan Staten, West Virginia
Keifer Sykes, Green Bay
Isaiah Taylor, Texas
Karl-Anthony Towns, Kentucky
Myles Turner, Texas
Fred VanVleet, Wichita State
Dez Wells, Maryland
Delon Wright, Utah
Joseph Young, Oregon
Caris LeVert’s 2014-15 Preseason Accolades
• Preseason All-Big Ten Team
• Preseason Top 50, John R. Wooden Award
• Preseason Watch List, Lute Olson Award
• Lute Olson Preseason All-America Team
• Blue Ribbon Preseason All-America, Second Team
• CBSSports.com Preseason All-America, Second Team
• Athlon Sports, Preseason All-America, Second Team
• CollegeSportsMadness.com, Preseason All-America, Third Team
• BTN.com Preseason All-Big Ten, First Team (unanimous selection)
• Blue Ribbon Preseason All-Big Ten, First Team
• Athlon Sports Preseason All-Big Ten, First Team
• CollegeSportsMadness.com Preseason All-Big Ten, First Team
• Athlon Sports, Preseason All-Junior, Second Team
• Athlon Sports, No. 1 ranked “Slasher”
• Athlon Sports, Big Ten’s Most Underrated Player
• Athlon Sports, Top Shooting Guards, No. 12