Marcus Morris named Wooden Award candidate

By Gary Bedore     Oct 4, 2010

Nick Krug
Kansas forward Marcus Morris delivers a dunk on Lehigh defenders Gabe Knutson, left, and Zahir Carrington during the second half Thursday, March 18, 2010 at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City.

Kansas University junior forward Marcus Morris has been named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 list, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced Monday.

Morris, 6-foot-9 from Philadelphia, earned second-team All-Big 12 honors last season after averaging 12.8 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.

“It’s always nice to hear your name on a list with a lot of great players, but this list is based on what we have done in the past,” Morris said Monday. “We’re getting ready for the season and have a lot of great players on our team that are just as worthy as I am to be on a list like this.”

Other Big 12 players on the Wooden list: LaceDarius Dunn, Baylor; Alec Burks, Cory Higgins, Colorado; Jacob Pullen, Kansas State; Kim English, Missouri; and Jordan Hamilton, Texas.

Also: Ty Abbott, Arizona State; Lavoy Allen, Temple; Kevin Anderson, Richmond; Talor Battle, Penn State; Kenny Boynton, Florida; William Buford, Ohio State; Randy Culpepper, UTEP; Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech; Corey Fisher, Villanova; Jimmer Fredette, BYU; Austin Freeman, Georgetown; Ashton Gibbs, Pitt; Steven Gray, Gonzaga; Elias Harris, Gonzaga; Jeremy Hazell, Seton Hall; John Henson, North Carolina; Tyler Honeycutt, UCLA; Robbie Hummel, Purdue; JaJuan Johnson, Purdue; Kris Joseph, Syracuse; Kawhi Leonard, San Diego State; Jon Leuer, Wisconsin; Kalin Lucas, Michigan State; Shelvin Mack, Butler; Demetri McCarney, Illinois State; E’Twaun Moore, Purdue; John Shurna, Northwestern; Kyle Singler, Duke; Chris Singleton, Florida State; Nolan Smith, Duke; Tracy Smith, North Carolina State; Durrell Summers, Michigan State; Jeffery Taylor, Vanderbilt; Isaiah Thomas, Washington; Trey Thompkins, Georgia; Klay Thompson, Washington State; Joe Trapani, Boston College; Brandon Triche, Syracuse; Nikola Vucevic, USC; Kemba Walker, UConn; Derrick Williams, Arizona; Jordan Williams, Maryland; Chris Wright, Dayton.

Kansas’ Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins made the Wooden preseason top 50 list last fall. Collins was one of five finalists and named Wooden All-American. There will be a midseason list in December and the official voting ballot of 20 players in March.

Twins to visit: Twins Andrew and Aaron Harrison, the No. 1- and 10-ranked players in the Class of 2013, will attend KU’s Oct. 15 Late Night in the Phog as part of an unofficial recruiting visit, Rivals.com reports.

The 6-5 guards are sophomores at Fort Bend (Texas) High. The two, who will attend the same college, have made unofficial visits to Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arizona, Texas, Texas A&M and Baylor.

Seniors to attend Late Night: No. 4-rated LeBryan Nash, 6-7 forward, Dallas Lincoln High; No. 17 Ben McLemore, 6-5 combo guard, Oak Hill Academy, Mouth of Wilson, Va.; No. 76 Angelo Chol, 6-8 center, San Diego’s Hoover High.

Juniors to attend: No. 84 Zach Peters, 6-9 center, Prestonwood Christian Academy, Plano, Texas, who has committed to KU; No. 27 Shaquille Cleare, 6-9 center, The Woodlands High, Houston; No. 29 Marcus Paige, 6-0, point guard, Linn Marr Community School, Marion, Iowa; No. 38-Nino Jackson, 6-2 shooting guard, Ardmore (Okla.) High.

Sophomores to attend: No. 3-ranked Julius Randle, 6-8, Prestonwood Christian Academy, Plano Texas; Travis Jorgenson, 5-10 point guard, Rock Bridge High, Columbia, Mo., Ishmael Wainright, 6-5 forward, Raytown (Mo.) South.

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