Ivy League POY Keith Wright among Wooden Award Preseason Top 50

 

Harvard's Keith Wright was honored as a Wooden Award Preseason nominee. (Photo Credit: gocrimson.com)

Reigning Ivy League Player of the Year Keith Wright added another honor to his resume on Monday when he was included on the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 list. The Wooden Award is given to the nation’s most outstanding basketball player who also maintains a minimum 2.0 GPA and demonstrates strength of character both on and off the court.

Wright acknowledged the recognition in a tweet earlier today, “Truly honored & blessed to be on such a prestigious list w/ so many talented players. Wouldn’t be there without my teammates & the man above.” He was the only Ivy League player to make the list.

Looking ahead, the Preseason Top 50 list will be whittled down to 20 student-athletes by college basketball media members around midseason. Those voters will mark their ballots, and choose the Top 10, who will then be named to the Wooden All-American team during the weekend of the Elite Eight in March.

2011-2012 Season

As the upcoming Ivy League season approaches, the make-up of the league looks to be unlike anything we’ve seen in years. Last season concluded with Doug Davis’ leaner sending the Tigers back to the tournament in one of the most exciting finishes to a conference season in the history of the Ancient Eight, but that Princeton team that was mobbed by its fans on the neutral floor in New Haven has been shaken up quite a bit since then. Meanwhile, Harvard returns as the prohibitive favorite, with a chip on its shoulder after a hollow share of the league title left them on the outside looking in on Selection Sunday. The Crimson return everyone from their record-setting squad. Dark horses include young squads looking to make the jump in Philadelphia and Providence, as well as a dangerous Yale team led by USA Basketball’s World University Games selection, Greg Mangano. Cornell’s sharpshooters also finished last season on a strong note and hope to carry that momentum into 2011, as they try to quickly rebuild back into a title contender.

In a few weeks, teams will gather in their respective empty, sweltering gymnasiums to restart the long and arduous journey to March. Over the course of the next two months, we will be assessing each team’s chances at winning the 14-game tournament better known as the Ivy League championship. We’ll break it down by position and analyze the newcomers. We’ll check out the non-conference schedules and get reports from the campuses. At the end of the summer, we’ll be putting it all together in the form of season previews and predictions. There’s a lot to look forward to around here, so be sure to check back soon.