Knoxville (WATE) - The day before the Tennessee Basketball team tips off the regular season, the hype to watch Jarnell Stokes in action this year just got bigger, as the UT sophomore made the elite list for the Preseason John R. Wooden Award.
Thursday, a panel of national college basketball experts chose the Top 50
based on last year's individual performance and team records. The 50
student-athletes are considered the early front-runner for the Wooden
Award, which is considered one of college basketball's most prestigious
individual honors.
Stokes, a power forward from Memphis, Tenn., also was recently
named to the media's preseason All-SEC first team after an impactful
freshman campaign during which he averaged 9.6 points and 7.4 rebounds
while shooting .534 from the field. He played in just 17 games - scoring
in double figures seven times - after graduating high school in
December and enrolling at UT mid-season.
Stokes is one of six players from the
SEC to make the list.
The 37th annual Wooden Award ceremony will include the
announcement of the men's and women's Wooden Award winners, the Wooden
Award All-American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award. The event
takes place the weekend of April 12-13, 2013.
