Maric among 5 Big 12 players named to the preseason Naismith Award List

[AuroranHusker]

Five Big 12 standouts have been named to list of top 50 preseason candidates for the 2007-08 Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T, the Atlanta Tip-off Club announced. Leading the way was Kansas, which had three players - Darrell Arthur, Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush - on the list. Nebraska center Aleks Maric and Texas guard D.J. Augustin were also recognized.

 

The Naismith Award, one of the most prestigious in college basketball, annually recognizes the top college players. The honor has been presented each year since 1969.

 

The top 50 candidates were selected based on last year's individual performance and team records. The student-athletes selected are all returning players, as transfers and first-time players were not included.

 

In the last five years, two of the Naismith winners have come from the Big 12 - Kevin Durant (Texas) a year ago and T.J. Ford (Texas) in 2002-03. In addition, Danny Manning of Kansas was honored in 1988 before the formation of the conference. Durant was the first freshman in the award's history to claim the honor.

 

The Atlanta Tipoff Club will recognize this year's winner at the NCAA Men's Final Four in San Antonio.

 

Naismith Trophy Preseason Top 50 List (alphabetical order):

Ryan Anderson, California; Darrell Arthur, Kansas; D.J.Augustin, Texas; Patrick Beverley, Arkansas; Jon Brockman, Washington; Chase Budinger, Arizona; Jaycee Carroll, Utah State; Mario Chalmers, Kansas; Geary Claxton, Penn State; Darren Collison, UCLA; Brandon Costner, NC State; Stephen Curry, Davidson; Will Daniels, Rhode Island; Joey Dorsey, Memphis; Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis; Wayne Ellington, North Carolina; Taj Gibson, USC; Jamont Gordon, Mississippi State; Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina; DeVon Hardin, California; Gerald Henderson, Duke; Josh Heytvelt, Gonzaga; Roy Hibbert, Georgetown; Lawrence Hill, Stanford; Dominic James, Marquette; Marcelus Kemp, Nevada; Drew Lavender, Xavier; Ty Lawson, North Carolina; Courtney Lee, Western Kentucky; Chris Lofton, Tennessee; Brook Lopez, Stanford; Derrick Low, Washington State; Aleks Maric, Nebraska; Eric Maynor, VCU; Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, UCLA; Ben McCauley, North Carolina State; Raymar Morgan, Michigan State; Drew Neitzel, Michigan State; Ahmad Nivins, St. Joseph¹s; David Padgett, Louisville; Scottie Reynolds, Villanova; Brandon Rush, Kansas; Josh Shipp, UCLA; Sean Singletary, Virginia; Marreese Speights, Florida; Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut; Jonathan Wallace, Georgetown; Kyle Weaver, Washington State; D.J. White, Indiana; Terrence Williams, Louisville.

 

Link to Big12Sports.com