Shoni Schimmel Named to the Wooden Midseason List
January 17, 2014 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2014
The Los Angeles Athletic Club has announced that senior guard Shoni Schimmel was one of 21 players named to its John R. Wooden Award Women's Midseason Top 20 today. This list is comprised of 20 student-athletes who, based on individual performance and team records, are the front-runners for college basketball's most prestigious individual honor. The list is chosen by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board. This year's midseason list contains 21 players, not the traditional 20, because Duke's Chelsea Gray was voted to the list by the media based on her play so far this year, despite suffering a season ending knee injury last week.
Schimmel was named to the preseason list after being a key player in the Cardinals' success last season. She was named the Most Outstanding Player for the Oklahoma City Regional. She also earned WBCA All-Region honors and first team All-BIG EAST honors.
This season Schimmel is leading the Cardinals in scoring with 17.5 points per game. She also leads the Cardinals in three-point field goal percentage, connecting on 37 percent. She ranks fourth in the conference in scoring. She also ranks second in the conference in free throw percentage and second in three-point field goal percentage. She leads the conference in three-point field goals made with 3.5 per game. She currently ranks third on Louisville's all-time scoring list with 1,826 points.
Players not chosen to the midseason team are still eligible for the National Ballot. The National Ballot consists of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they are 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.
The ACC led all conferences with seven of the 21 selections, followed by The American with five; the Big 10 with three; the Pac-12 and Big 12 with two each; and Conference USA and the SEC with one apiece.
About the John R. Wooden Award
The 38th annual Wooden Award Gala presented by Wendy's will honor the Men's and Women's Wooden Award winners the weekend of April 11-13, 2014. It will include the presentation of the Wooden Award All American Teams and will recognize the Legends of Coaching Award recipient Tara VanDerveer of Stanford.
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), Maya Moore ('09 and '11) and Brittney Griner ('12 and '13).
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.
Follow the candidates and get the latest news throughout the season by logging on to www.WoodenAward.com or following us on Twitter @WoodenAward. For more information on the John R. Wooden Award, please contact the Wooden Award staff at 213-630-5231 or via email at woodenaward@laac.net. #
