Tue Apr 1 13:37:03 2008

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Hansbrough, Love among Wooden Award finalists

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Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - North Carolina junior forward Tyler Hansbrough and UCLA freshman center Kevin Love are among the finalists for the John Wooden Award, which is presented annually to the most outstanding college basketball player in the nation.

The other finalists are Texas sophomore guard D.J. Augustin, Kansas State freshman forward Michael Beasley and Davidson sophomore guard Stephen Curry. The winner will be announced Friday, April 11.

Hansbrough and Love will lead their respective teams in this weekend's Final Four.

A finalist last year as a sophomore, Hansbrough has had an incredible junior campaign. He won the ACC Player of the Year and became North Carolina's second-leading scorer all-time, entering this weekend's play averaging 22.8 points and 10.3 rebounds.

Love leads UCLA with averages of 17.6 points and 10.7 rebounds. He was the Pac-10's top player and has averaged 21.8 points and 11.0 rebounds in four NCAA Tournament games.

Augustin helped Texas to the South Regional final and finished the campaign averaging team bests of 18.2 points and 5.8 assists.

Beasley is the third-leading scorer in the nation at 26.2 points per game and leads the nation in rebounding at 12.4 per contest. He helped Kansas State to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Curry became a household name over the past two weekends, leading Davidson to within a basket of the Final Four. He is fourth in the nation in scoring, averaging 25.9 points, and his amazing NCAA Tournament average of 32.0 points in four games helped the Southern Conference champions to upsets of Gonzaga, Georgetown and Wisconsin before a loss to Kansas in the Midwest Regional final.

Last year, Texas' Kevin Durant became the first freshman to win the award, which was first presented in 1977.

In addition to on-court performance, Wooden Award voters are supposed to base their selections on each candidate's character and academic performance, essential components of an outstanding player in the eyes of John Wooden, the legendary hoops coach at UCLA and the award's namesake.

The Wooden All-American team features the five finalists as well as Kansas' Brandon Rush, Notre Dame's Luke Harangody, Tennessee's Chris Lofton, and Memphis' Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose. Lofton is the only senior.