NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Senior Luke Harangody (Schererville, Ind.), a member of the 2008 and 2009 John R. Wooden All-America teams, headlines the list of 50 preseason candidates for 2010. The Irish forward is the only returnee from the ’09 squad among the nominees this season.

Harangody, one of 11 BIG EAST player named to the list, is a two-time Associated Press Second Team All-American, Harangody became the first player in BIG EAST history to lead the conference in scoring (25.2) and rebounding (12.8) in consecutive seasons, while also leading the Irish in both categories, 23.3 points and 11.8 rebounds, for the second straight year. Additionally, he was the only player nationally to rank in the top 10 in both scoring (8th) and rebounding (6th).

Harangody registered an Irish single-season best 25 double-doubles (15 in BIG EAST play) and ranks fourth all-time at Notre Dame with 50 career double-doubles. He scored in double figures in all but two games, netted 30-plus points on six occasions and registered 20-plus points in 25 contests. Harangody established a BIG EAST single-season rebounding record with 231 rebounds in 18 regular-season conference games.

A two-time first-team all-BIG EAST honoree, he earned a spot on Dick Vitale’s All-America squad and was a second team selection to the United States Basketball Writers (USBWA) All-America unit. He also was named a State Farm/NABC third team All-American.
Harangody is one of only four players in Notre Dame history with 1,800 career points and 900 rebounds, ranking eighth all-time with 1,823 points and standing fifth with 949 rebounds. In his three-year BIG EAST career, the 2008 BIG EAST Player of the Year has scored 1,031 points (19.9 ppg.) in 52 league contests. Only three other players in BIG EAST history — Ray Allen (Connecticut), Richard Hamilton (Connecticut) and Pat Garrity (Notre Dame) — have scored more than 1,000 points in three seasons.

Returning players from last year’s Wooden Award ballot, in addition to Harangody, include Sherron Collins of Kansas, Duke’s Kyle Singler and Kalin Lucas of Michigan State. Purdue’s Robbie Hummel made the Wooden ballot in 2008. Collins averaged 18.9 ppg a year ago and was a first team All-Big 12 selection. He has led the Jayhawks to regular season conference titles in each of his first three seasons in Lawrence. Singler is Duke’s top returning scorer (16.5 ppg in 2009) and rebounder (7.7) and was a second team All-ACC pick in 2009. Lucas led the Spartans to the 2009 Final Four and was the 2009 Big 10 Player of the Year, averaging 14.7 ppg.

Transfers, freshmen and medical redshirts are not eligible for the preseason list. These players and others who excel throughout the season will be evaluated and considered for December’s Midseason list and the official voting ballot released in March.

Eleven conferences are represented on the Wooden Award Preseason List. Leading the way is the Big East (11), followed by the ACC (10), Big 10 (8), SEC (7), Big 12 (6), Pac-10 (3), and Atlantic 10, CAA, Horizon, WAC and West Coast with one apiece.

In late December, the Wooden Award Committee will release the Midseason Top 30 list, followed in March by the National Ballot, consisting of approximately 20 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA.  The Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round during the NCAA Tournament.

The 34th annual Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the announcement of the Men’s and Women’s Wooden Award winner, and the presentation of the Wooden Award All-American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, will take place the weekend of April 9-11, 2010.