Dec. 8, 2009

LEXINGTON, KY – UK men’s basketball player John Wall was named the SEC Freshman of the Week as announced by the league office on Monday.

Wall, a 6-4 guard from Raleigh, N.C., finished with 16 points and a game-high seven assists against 10 th ranked North Carolina despite sitting out seven minutes in the second half with cramps. In addition he hit two free throws with four seconds left to ice the game against the Tar Heels giving Kentucky a five-point lead.

Prior to the North Carolina game, he recorded a double-double with 12 points and 14 assists against UNC Asheville, his second double-double in points and assists this season. His 14 assists is a freshman record and the most for a Wildcat since Travis Ford totaled 15 assists in the 1994 season. He also tallied a career high six steals, the most by a Wildcat since Jodie Meeks in the 2007 season.

The honor was the third straight SEC Freshman of the Week honor for Wall. The Wildcats have won all four weekly freshman honors from the conference office this season, beginning with Eric Bledsoe in the first week and Wall the last three weeks. Junior Patrick Patterson was also named the league’s Player of the Week in week two, giving the Wildcats five SEC Player/Freshman of the week awards this season.

Additionally, Dick Vitale named Wall his “Diaper Dandy of the Week” and named Kentucky as his “Team of the Week”. It’s the second national weekly honor for Wall after he was named National Player of the Week by ESPN.com earlier this season.

Kentucky is in action on Wednesday against the UConn Huskies in the DirecTV SEC/Big East Invitational in Madison Square Garden in New York City. The game is scheduled for a 9:40 p.m. ET tip and can be seen live on ESPN.