Gray Named to Naismith Watch List

NORMAN, Okla. - Fifty of the country's top collegiate men's basketball players were announced Tuesday by the Atlanta Tipoff Club as pre-season candidates for the Naismith Trophy presented by Cingular Wireless, and Oklahoma's Taj Gray was one of them. The Naismith Trophy is a national award presented annually to the men's and women's players of the year.

The Top 50 list was compiled by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors, comprised of leading basketball journalists, coaches and administrators from around the country. The board based its pre-season criteria on player performances from last season.

Gray, this year's Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year, earned first-team All-Big 12 and league newcomer-of-the-year accolades last year after leading the Big 12 champion Sooners in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots. He averaged 14.6 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.8 blocked shots, 1.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting .557 from the field as OU finished 25-8 overall and 12-4 in the Big 12. Gray was also named Big 12 Rookie of the Week a school record four times.

Cingular Wireless will again give fans a voice in selecting this year's winner. Fan voting, through the power and ease of text messaging, will account for 25 percent of the selection process. This program sets the standard for integrating fans into the voting process and providing them with more input than with any other major collegiate sports award.

In January, the Board of Selectors will narrow its pre-season list to the Top 30 players in the nation. Those players, and others who distinguish themselves throughout the season, will be eligible for the final ballot in March. Beginning in mid-February, CBS' “Cingular at the Half” will feature a weekly Naismith Trophy Watch highlighting the players in contention. In April, the player of the year will be recognized at the NCAA Men's Final Four in Indianapolis.

The men's preseason list includes:

Hassan Adams, Arizona
Maurice Ager, Michigan State
Brandon Bowman, Georgetown
Ronnie Brewer, Arkansas
Dee Brown, Illinois
Shannon Brown, Michigan State
Greg Brunner, Iowa
Nik Caner-Medley, Maryland
Rodney Carney, Memphis
Mardy Collins, Temple
JamesOn Curry, Oklahoma State
Paul Davis, Michigan State
Glen Davis, LSU
Taquan Dean, Louisville
Guillermo Diaz, Miami
Jared Dudley, Boston College
Jordan Farmer, UCLA
Nick Fazekas, Nevada
Mike Gansey, West Virginia
Rudy Gay, Connecticut
Daniel Gibson, Texas
Justin Gray, Wake Forest
Taj Gray, Oklahoma
Jeff Green, Georgetown
Vincent Grier, Minnesota
Chris Hernandez, Stanford
Eric Hicks, Cincinnati
Jeff Horner, Iowa
Carl Krauser, Pittsburgh
Bo McCalebb, New Orleans
Gerry McNamara, Syracuse
Paul Millsap, Louisiana Tech
Adam Morrison, Gonzaga
Kevin Pittsnogle, West Virginia
Leon Powe, California
Rajon Rando, Kentucky
Allan Ray, Villanova
Brandon Roy, Washington
J.J. Redick, Duke
Craig Smith, Boston College
Steven Smith, La Salle
Curtis Stinson, Iowa State
Curtis Sumpter, Villanova
P.J. Tucker, Texas
Alando Tucker, Wisconsin
Darius Washington, Memphis
Shelden Williams, Duke
Eric Williams, Wake Forest
Curtis Withers, Charlotte

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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