Junior point guard Isaiah Taylor has been named to the John R. Wooden Award preseason Top 50.
Former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden inspired the creation of the award, one of the most distinguished in college basketball. The award represents the qualities Wooden considered in a complete player: skilled in rebounding, passing, defense, shooting and dribbling. Candidates must maintain a 2.00 GPA throughout their academic career as well as excellent character on and off the court. Players have the entire season, pre-season, conference and tournament play, to impress voters, who are college basketball experts from all 50 states.
Taylor started the 2015-16 season with a 1.72 career assist-to-turnover ratio, ranking eighth all-time at UT. He is also a candidate for Academic All-American recognition. In his first game of the season, Taylor scored 27 points, tying a career high, and recorded seven rebounds.
As a sophomore, Taylor finished the season leading the Longhorns in scoring (13.1 ppg), assists (4.6 apg), steals (23) and minutes (31.4 mpg). He was also selected to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team and the Fall 2014 and Spring 2015 Big 12 Commissioner’s honor rolls, which requires a minimum 3.0 GPA.
As a freshman, Taylor led the team in minutes (30.1 mpg) and assists (4.0 apg). He was second on the team in scoring (12.7 ppg) and steals (37). Taylor also landed on the Big 12 Commissioner’s honor rolls for the Fall 2013 and Spring 2014 semesters.
The first Wooden Award recipient was Marques Johnson in 1977. The last Longhorn to win the Wood Award was Kevin Durant in 2007, and prior to him, T.J. Ford in 2003. Other notable Wooden recipients include Tim Duncan (1997), Michael Jordan (1984) and Larry Bird (1979).
In early January, the list of possible candidates for the 2016 award drops to 25. The winner of the award will be announced April 8, 2016.
