ST. LOUIS (USBWA) The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has selected five outstanding first-year players as finalists for the 2011 Wayman Tisdale Award, to be presented to the men's National Freshman of the Year at a gala banquet on Mon., April 11 at the Skirvin Hotel in Oklahoma City. The announcement of the winner will come at the USBWA Awards Breakfast on Fri., April 1 in Houston in conjunction with the NCAA Men's Final Four.
Kentucky teammates Terrence Jones (Portland, Ore.) and Brandon Knight (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) join Baylor's Perry Jones III (Duncanville, Texas), Ohio State's Jared Sullinger (Columbus, Ohio) and Texas' Tristan Thompson (Brampton, Ontario) as the 2011 Wayman Tisdale Award finalists.
The USBWA will also present the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Year Award and the Henry Iba National Coach of the Year Award at the awards breakfast in Houston, which will also pay tribute to the legendary University of Houston "Phi Slama Jama" teams.
The USBWA has chosen a national freshman of the year since the 1988-89 season when LSU's Chris Jackson was the recipient. Other previous winners of the award include Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Jason Kidd and Chris Webber. This season marks the first year the award has been named in Wayman Tisdale's honor.
The Tisdale Award winner will receive a statuette designed by nationally-recognized sculptor Shan Gray. The April 11 banquet, hosted by ESPN's Fran Fraschilla, will also honor Dick Vitale as the recipient of the Wayman Tisdale Humanitarian Award. A permanent Wayman Tisdale Award will be on display at the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.
The late Wayman Tisdale was a three-time USBWA All-American at the University of Oklahoma. Following a stint on the 1984 U.S. Olympic basketball team, he played 12 seasons in the NBA before retiring in 1997 to focus on a blossoming jazz music career. In March 2007, he was diagnosed with cancer and, following a courageous and difficult battle that included the amputation of his right leg in 2008, he passed away in May 2009.
The Wayman Tisdale Freshman of the Year Award presented by Devon is produced by Access Sports, an Oklahoma City-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to supporting various charitable causes, including funding prosthetic devices for needy individuals through the Wayman L. Tisdale Foundation, educational scholarships through the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and funding of youth basketball programs throughout the state of Oklahoma through Wayman's Lightning Basketball League.
Tickets and sponsorship information for the April 11 event are available at the Tisdale Award website, access-sports.net, or by contacting Scott Hill (405-749-1515, scott.hill@access-sports.net). For more information on the USBWA Awards Breakfast in Houston, including purchasing tickets, visit uhletterwinners.com.
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. It has selected an All-America team since the 1956-57 season. For more information on the USBWA and its award programs, contact executive director Joe Mitch at 314-444-4325.