Sat Apr 12 01:54:02 2008

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Hansbrough named 2008 Wooden Award winner

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Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - North Carolina junior forward Tyler Hansbrough was named the winner of the John Wooden Award for 2008, presented annually to the most outstanding college basketball player in the nation.

A finalist last year as a sophomore, Hansbrough had an incredible junior campaign. He won the ACC Player of the Year and became North Carolina's second-leading scorer all-time, while averaging 22.8 points and 10.3 rebounds. The Tar Heels finished 36-2, and had a long run in this year's tourney before falling to eventual national champion Kansas in the Final Four.

Only three former Tar Heels earned the honor previously: Phil Ford (1978), Michael Jordan (1984), and Antawn Jamison (1998).

Hansbrough topped second-place finisher and freshman sensation Michael Beasley of Kansas State, who was the third-leading scorer in the nation at 26.2 points per game and led the nation in rebounding at 12.4 per contest. He helped the Wildcats advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The other finalists were UCLA freshman center Kevin Love, Texas sophomore guard D.J. Augustin, and Davidson sophomore guard Stephen Curry.

Love was the Pac-10's top player with 17.5 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, and led the Bruins all the way to the Final Four, before falling to national runner-up Memphis.

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

Curry became a household name over the past two weekends, leading Davidson to within a basket of the Final Four. He was 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.