Rice Preseason Candidate For Wooden Award

Rice Preseason Candidate For Wooden Award

Aug. 6, 2003

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (hurricanesports.com) – University of Miami senior forward Darius Rice (Jackson, MS) has been named a preseason candidate for the John R. Wooden College Basketball Player of the Year 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 university that he is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include such notables as Michael Jordan (’84), Larry Bird (’79), Tim Duncan (’97) and last year’s recipient, T.J. Ford (’03).

The 2004 Award ceremony, which will include the presentation of the Wooden Award All-American team and the presentation of the Legends of Coaching Award, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on Saturday, April 10, 2004 and will be broadcast live on CBS.

Rice averaged a team-high 18.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.4 steals earning third-team All-BIG EAST and first-team All-District honors last season. He ranked among the conference leaders in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, three-point field goal percentage and three-point field goals made. Four times during the season he hit a three-point basket at the end of regulation to either win the game or send it to overtime.

Rice is one of 11 BIG EAST players on the preseason list including Andre Barrett (Seton Hall), Torin Francis (Notre Dame), Ryan Gomes (Providence), Ben Gordon (Connecticut), Gerry McNamara (Syracuse), Emeka Okafor (Connecticut), Julius Page (Pittsburgh), Craig Smith (Boston College), Chris Thomas (Notre Dame) and Hakim Warrick (Syracuse).

2003-04 Wooden Award Preseason All-American Team – Top 50 Candidates

Andre Barrett 5’10” Sr. G Seton Hall
Kevin Bookout 6’8″ So. F Oklahoma
Dee Brown 5’11” So. G Illinois
Josh Childress 6’8″ Jr. F Stanford
Paul Davis 6’11’ So. C Michigan State
Travis Diener 6’1″ Jr. G Marquette
Ike Diogu 6’8″ So. F Arizona State
Chris Duhon 6’1″ Sr. G Duke
Andre Emmett 6’5″ Sr. F Texas Tech
Raymond Felton 6’0″ So. G North Carolina
Gerald Fitch 6’3″ Sr. G Kentucky
Luis Flores 6’2″ Sr. G Manhattan
Torin Francis 6’10” So. F/C Notre Dame
Matt Freije 6’9″ Sr. F Vanderbilt
Channing Frye 6’10” Jr. F Arizona
Francisco Garcia 6’10” Jr. F Louisville
Ryan Gomes 6’8″ Jr. F Providence
Ben Gordon 6’2″ Jr. G Connecticut
David Harrison 7’0″ Jr. C Colorado
Chris Hill 6’3″ Jr. G Michigan State
Julius Hodge 6’6″ Jr. G North Carolina State
Daniel Horton 6’3″ So. G Michigan
Luke Jackson 6’7″ Sr. F Oregon
Arthur Johnson 6’9″ Sr. C Missouri
Keith Langford 6’4″ Jr. F Kansas
David Lee 6’8″ Jr. F Florida
Jason Maxiell 6’7″ Sr. F Cincinnati
Rashad McCants 6’3″ So. F North Carolina
Gerry McNamara 6’2″ So. G Syracuse
Marcus Moore 6’3″ Sr. G Washington State
Brandon Mouton 6’4″ Sr. G Texas
Jameer Nelson 6’1″ Sr. G St. Joseph’s
Emeka Okafor * 6’9″ Jr. F/C Connecticut
Julius Page 6’3″ Sr. G Pittsburgh
Rickey Paulding 6’5″ Sr. G Missouri
J.J. Redick 6’4″ So. G Duke
Darius Rice 6’10” Sr. F Miami
Lawrence Roberts 6’9″ Jr. F Baylor
Romain Sato 6’5″ Sr. G Xavier
Wayne Simien 6’8″ Jr. F Kansas
Craig Smith 6’7″ So. F Boston College
Blake Stepp 6’4″ Sr. G Gonzaga
Salim Stoudamire 6’1″ Jr. G Arizona
Amit Tamir 6’10” Jr. F/C California
Chris Thomas 6’1″ Jr. G Notre Dame
James Thomas 6’8″ Sr. C Texas
Cory Violette 6’8″ Sr. F/C Gonzaga
Matt Walsh 6’6″ So. F Florida
Hakim Warrick 6’9″ Jr. F Syracuse
Bracey Wright 6’3″ So. G Indiana