ESPN Women's Basketball

Seven players from last season's Kodak All-America team are among 30 players named to the inaugural John R. Wooden women's preseason All-America team and are expected to make a run for the award.

Wooden Women's Award Preseason Team

Seimone Augustus, So., G, LSU Jacqueline Batteast, Jr., F, Notre Dame Alana Beard, Jr., G/F, Duke Jenni Benningfield, Jr., F, Vanderbilt Tera Bjorklund, Jr., C, Colorado Rebekkah Brunson, Sr., F, Georgetown Shameka Christon, Sr., F, Arkansas Shyra Ely, Jr., F, Tennessee Ebony Hoffman, Sr., F/C, USC Chandi Jones, Sr., F/G, Houston Kelly Mazzante, Sr., G, Penn State Giuliana Mediola, Jr., G, Washington Loree Moore, Jr., G, Tennessee Nicole Ohlde, Sr., F/C, Kansas State Jia Perkins, Sr., G, Texas Tech Shawntinice Polk, So., C, Arizona Cappie Pondexter, Jr,. G, Rutgers Nicole Powell, Sr., F, Stanford Heather Schreiber, Jr., F/G, Texas Stacy Stephens, Sr., F, Texas Ann Strother, So., G, Connecticut Diana Taurasi, Sr., G/F, Connecticut Lindsay Taylor, Sr., C, Santa Barbara Christi Thomas, Sr., F/C, Georgia Iciss Tillis, Sr., F, Duke Kendra Wecker, Jr., F, Kansas State Lindsay Whalen, Sr., G, Minnesota Tan White, Jr., G, Mississippi State Shereka Wright, Sr., F, Purdue Tanisha Wright, Jr., G, Penn State

The Wooden Award is one of the most coveted individual honors in men's college basketball. But beginning this season, the Wooden Award also will be presented annually to the most outstanding female collee basketball player.

Duke's Alana Beard and Connecticut's Diana Taurasi, largely considered the top two players in the game, headline the preseason team. Taurasi has helped lead UConn to back-to-back NCAA titles the past two seasons, including a championship run last April that made the Huskies the first team to win it all without a single senior on its roster.

Beard, a two-time Kodak and Associated Press All-American who has guided Duke to two straight Final Four appearances, led the ACC with 22.0 points per game, while averaging 6.9 rebounds, 2.8 steals, 3.0 assists and 1.3 blocks last season. Beard, the 2003 Victor Award winner and ESPN.com player of the year, is just the second Duke men's or women's player to score 2,000 career points in only three seasons.

UConn, Duke, Kansas State, Penn State, Tennessee and Texas each had two players represented on the Wooden preseason All-America team. Only returning players are eligible for the preseason team, although transfers and freshmen, as well as other players who excel throughout the season, will be evaluated and considered for the Midseason Top 20 List, which will be released in mid-January.

In March, the Wooden Award Committee will release the official voting ballot, consisting of the top 10-15 players. The candidates must "have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation" and maintain a cumulative 2.0 grade-point average.

More than 250 voters, comprised of sports media members and women's college basketball experts across the nation, will then cast their votes for the five-member All-American team and Wooden Award honor as the most outstanding female collegiate basketball player in the United States.

According to award director Mike Solum, the Wooden Women's Award has been a longtime goal. The idea came to fruition due to the strong interest and financial support of Applied Materials, a sponsor for the men's Wooden Award since 2000 and now the presenting sponsor for the Women's Award.

"We are thrilled to finally recognize the top women's players for their efforts and hard work," Solum said. "The creation of this award is long overdue, and we are especially grateful to Applied Materials for their support in bringing this idea to life."

Past winners of the John R. Wooden Award, first created in 1976, include Michael Jordan (1984), Larry Bird ('79), Tim Duncan ('97) and last year's recipient, T.J. Ford ('03).