University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Aaron Gray Nominated for 2007 John R. Wooden Award
3/26/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
| Pitt Senior Aaron Gray has been nominated for the prestigious 2007 John R. Wooden Award. Gray along with 21 other Division I Men's Basketball student-athletes have earned a place on the final ballot for the 2007 Wooden Award. For the first time in Wooden Award history, college basketball fans will be able to cast their vote for the Wooden Award Player of the Year.
Most recently, Gray was named "Aeropostale/Big East Scholar-Athlete of the Year". An All-America and Big East Player of the Year candidate, Aaron Gray decided to complete his college eligibility and return to Pitt for his senior season. In his senior campaign Gray scored 499 points at an average of 13.9 points per game. Against Washington on February 17, Aaron became the 34th player in school history to surpass the 1,000-career point mark. The 2005-06 Big East Most Improved Player and All-Big East First Team honoree, Gray went from averaging 4.3 points and 2.8 rebounds per game as a sophomore to becoming the only Big East player to average a double-double with 13.9 points and 10.5 rebounds as a junior. Gray is a tireless worker who made great strides to improve over his previous three seasons at Pitt. Gray is a powerful big man with reliable hands who has proved that he can rebound, catch, shoot and score inside. As only the second seven-footer to play at Pitt, Gray is effective around the basket.
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation's best player at an institution of higher education who has proven to his or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include such notables as Larry Bird ('79), Michael Jordan ('84), Tim Duncan ('97), Andrew Bogut ('05), and last year's recipients, Seimone Augustus ('06) and J.J. Redick ('06).
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award Trophy presented to "The Outstanding College Basketball Player in the United States," is given to the player who receives the most points in the annual balloting. A candidate's performance in the regular season, conference tournaments and postseason are taken into account by voters, as is the player's character. Four of the 23 Wooden Award winners have capped off an NCAA title with the Wooden Award Trophy. Only five universities have had more than one winner.
Past Winners
| Year | Player | School |
| 2006 | J.J. Redick | Duke University |
| 2006 | Seimone Augustus | Louisiana State University |
| 2005 | Andrew Bogut | University of Utah |
| 2005 | Seimone Augustus | Louisiana State University |
| 2004 | Alana Beard | Duke University |
| 2004 | Jameer Nelson | St. Joseph's |
| 2003 | T.J. Ford | University of Texas |
| 2002 | Jason Williams | Duke University |
| 2001 | Shane Battier | Duke University |
| 2000 | Kenyon Martin | University of Cincinnati |
| 1999 | Elton Brand | Duke University |
| 1998 | Antawn Jamison | University of North Carolina |
| 1997 | Tim Duncan | Wake Forest University |
| 1996 | Marcus Camby | University of Massachusetts |
| 1995 | Ed O'Bannon | UCLA |
| 1994 | Glenn Robinson | Purdue University |
| 1993 | Calbert Cheaney | Indiana University |
| 1992 | Christian Laettner | Duke University |
| 1991 | Larry Johnson | UNLV |
| 1990 | Lionel Simmons | La Salle University |
| 1989 | Sean Elliott | University of Arizona |
| 1988 | Danny Manning | University of Kansas |
| 1987 | David Robinson | United States Naval Academy |
| 1986 | Walter Berry | St. John's University |
| 1985 | Chris Mullin | St. John's University |
| 1984 | Michael Jordan | University of North Carolina |
| 1983 | Ralph Sampson | University of Virginia |
| 1982 | Ralph Sampson | University of Virginia |
| 1981 | Danny Ainge | Brigham Young University |
| 1980 | Darrell Griffith | University of Louisville |
| 1979 | Larry Bird | Indiana State University |
| 1978 | Phil Ford | University of North Carolina |
| 1977 | Marques Johnson | UCLA |
