March 8, 2014

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Athletic Club today has selected Kentucky freshman Julius Randle as one of 15 finalists for the 2014 John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy’s.

For the season, Randle has hauled in 324 rebounds which stand as the fourth most in UK freshman history. He has also poured in a team-high 477 points on the year. The 477 points are sixth among UK freshmen in the record books.

The forward’s 18 double-doubles is tied for 13th most in a single-season in NCAA history for a freshman. He now ranks seventh among any UK player in program history and third among all UK freshmen behind DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis who both notched 20 during their freshman campaigns.

The Dallas, Texas, native is currently leading the Wildcats with 15.4 points per game and 10.5 rebounds per outing.

Selected by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board, the ballot is made up of 15 student-athletes who are the eligible for college basketball’s most prestigious honor. All balloted players have proven to their universities that they are making progress toward graduation and are maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA.

The Wooden Award All American Team, consisting of the nation’s top 10 players, will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament after voting by nearly 1,000 media members from March 12 through 24 and through the Fan Voting site (www.woodenawardvote.com) sponsored by Wendy’s. The John R. Wooden Award Player of the Year presented by Wendy’s will be announced on ESPN during the Final Four Weekend in Dallas, Texas. The 38th annual Wooden Award Gala presented by Wendy’s will honor the male and female Wooden Award winners, and will include the presentation of the Wooden Award All American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, this year given to Stanford Head Women’s Basketball Coach Tara VanDerveer. The Gala will take place the weekend of April 11-12, 2014 at The Los Angeles Athletic Club.