Al Thornton is a candidate for ACC and National Player of the Year honors.

Thornton bidding for ACC Player of the Year honors.

Jan. 31, 2007

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida State senior forward Al Thornton, who has helped the Seminoles to a 16-6 record heading into Sunday's nationally televised game against Duke, has been named to the John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top-30 list as announced by the Wooden Award Committee. Thornton is now one of the 30 finalists across the nation in college basketball who will compete for one of 10 spots on the 10-member Wooden All-American team and Wooden Award Player of the Year honors.

The Wooden Award All-America team will be announced on March 27 and the Wooden Award Player of the Year will be announced on April 7 at a ceremony at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.

Thornton, who has three double-doubles in eight ACC games this season, is one of the top players in the ACC. He leads the ACC in scoring in ACC games only (23.0 ppg), is shooting nearly 89 percent from the line against ACC competition, is shooting a career-high .556 from the field and has blocked a career-high 25 shots in the first 22 games of the season. Thornton also leads the ACC with 11 games of 20 or more points scored in a game.

Florida State, which defeated the nation's No. 1 ranked team - Florida - on Dec. 3, is one of only two teams in the nation that has played the nation's top three ranked teams in this week's Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Polls. The Seminoles defeated the Gators, 70-66, at the Donald L. Tucker Center and have a 1-2 record against No. 1 Florida (Dec. 3, 70-66), No. 2 Wisconsin (Nov. 28) and No. 3 North Carolina (Jan. 7). The Seminoles also have victories over No. 23 Virginia Tech (Jan. 17, 82-73), which has defeated both No. 3 North Carolina and No. 10 Duke) and Providence of the Big East (Dec. 29, 92-62) which has earned victories over then No. 23 ranked Boston College, then No. 15 ranked Marquette and Connecticut this past Saturday on the Huskies home floor.

Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation's best player at an institution of higher education who has proven to his or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include such notables as Larry Bird ('79), Michael Jordan ('84), Tim Duncan ('97), Andrew Bogut ('05), and last year's recipients, Seimone Augustus ('06) and J.J. Redick.

Wooden Award Midseason
All-American Team - Top 30 Candidates
(Players listed alphabetically. * Indicates player was a 2005-2006 All-American)
Aaron Afflalo        6'5"    Jr.    G     UCLA
Morris Almond        6'6"    Sr.    G     Rice
Mario Boggan         6'7"    Sr.    F/C   Oklahoma State
Corey Brewer         6'9"    Jr.    F     Florida
Aaron Brooks         6'0"    Sr.    G     Oregon
Glen Davis*          6'9"    Jr.    F     LSU
Jared Dudley         6'7"    Sr.    F     Boston College
Kevin Durant         6'9"    Fr.    G/F   Texas
Nick Fazekas         6'11"   Sr.    F     Nevada
A.J. Graves          6'1"    Jr.    G     Butler
Aaron Gray           7'0"    Sr.    C     Pittsburgh
Taurean Green        6'0"    Jr.    G     Florida
Tyler Hansbrough     6'9"    So.    F     North Carolina
Jarrius Jackson      6'2"    Sr.    G     Texas Tech
Dominic James        5'11"   So.    G     Marquette
Acie Law             6'3"    Sr.    G     Texas A&M
Chris Lofton         6'2"    Jr.    G     Tennessee
Josh McRoberts       6'10"   So.    F     Duke
Randolph Morris      6'11"   Jr.    C     Kentucky
Drew Neitzel         6'0"    Jr.    G     Michigan State
Demetris Nichols     6'8"    Sr.    F     Syracuse
Joakim Noah          6'11"   Jr.    F/C   Florida
Greg Oden            7'0"    Fr.    C     Ohio State
Brandon Rush         6'6"    So.    G     Kansas
Sean Singletary      6'0"    Jr.    G     Virginia
Curtis Sumpter       6'7"    Sr.    F     Villanova
Al Thornton          6'8"    Sr.    F     Florida State
Alando Tucker        6'6"    Sr.    F     Wisconsin
Marcus Williams      6'7"    So.    F     Arizona
Brandan Wright       6'9"    Fr.    F     North Carolina