Temple University Athletics
DUPREE SELECTED AS FINALIST FOR WOODEN AWARD
3.7.06 | Women's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA- Temple University senior and All-America candidate Candice Dupree has been selected as one of 18 finalists for the 2006 John R. Wooden Award List as announced on March 7 by the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Comprised of the top 18 players who are expected to contend for this year's Player of the Year Award, the finalist list is based on individual player performance and team records through the 2005-06 season. Dupree was named to the 30-player preseason list in August and the 20-member midseason list in February.
Dupree repeated as the Atlantic 10 Player and Defensive Player of the Year as well as the Most Outstanding Player of the 2006 A-10 Tournament in leading #18 Temple to its third straight A-10 title. She is just the fifth person in A-10 history to repeat as Player of the Year and the first since SJU's Dale Hodges in 1989 and 1990. Marilyn Stephens is the only other Temple player that has earned back to back honors, taking home the award in 1983 and 1984. She is the first player ever to earn both Player and Defensive Player awards since the Defensive award was started in 1996-97 and she has accomplished that feat two years in a row.Dupree is just the second player in A-10 history to earn MOP honors three times (2004, 2005, 2006) and the only player to win it outright in all three years. Rutgers' Sue Wicks was voted the MOP outright in 1986 and in 1988 and the Co-MOP in 1987.
She leads the Owls in scoring (17.6) and (8.7) The Tampa, FL, native finished the A-10 season with 11 double-doubles en route to earning four A-10 Player of the Week honors and is shooting an impressive 51% from the floor. She led the 18th-ranked Owls to their third straight 20-win season with a 24-7 mark and helped the Owls to two wins over ranked programs, including a 48-47 victory over then-#9 Rutgers in Temple's first-ever win over a top 10 program on Jan. 19. A Naismith Award finalist, Dupree also First-Team All-Conference honors. She also leads the league and the team in blocks (2.36)
The 2006 Award ceremony will be held at the Los Angeles Athletic Club on April 8, 2006 and will be broadcast live on a national CBS telecast. The top five male and female finalists will be invited to Los Angeles for the Awards ceremony and will receive a contribution from the John R. Wooden Award Scholarship Fund in their name to their university's general scholarship fund.
For more information on the John R. Wooden Award and the complete list of candidates, please visit www.woodenaward.com.
