Dec. 21, 2009

LEXINGTON, KY – UK men’s basketball freshman John Wall was named a Bob Cousy Award candidate as announced by The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Wall, a 6-4 guard from Raleigh, N.C., is averaging a team high 18.0 points, 7.0 assists and 2.6 steals. He ranks second nationally in assists and 18 th in steals.

He has already received four of five SEC Freshman of the Week awards this season and was named ESPN.com’s National Player of the Week in late November.

Wall set a UK freshman record for assists in a game with 14 against UNC Asheville. He also recorded the third most steals by freshman with six against UNC Asheville and UConn. In addition he hit the game-winning shot against Miami University while scoring 12 of Kentucky’s final 15 points in UK’s 64-61 win over UConn.

The annual award, named for Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic Bob Cousy,  recognizes college basketball’s top point guard. 72 candidates have been nominated for the 2010 award. Nominations were solicited from all Division I, II and III schools across the country.

This original list of candidates will be narrowed down to a final 20 by January 1st, final 10 by February 1st, and final five by March 1st. The winner of the 2010 Bob Cousy Award presented by The Hartford will be presented at the Hall of Fame’s Class Announcement on Monday, April 5th in Indianapolis as part of NCAA Final Four weekend.