Sept. 26, 2000
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Notre Dame junior forward Troy Murphy (Morristown, N.J.) is listed as the second-leading vote-getter (among the 30 preseason candidates announced) behind Duke University’s Shane Battier for the 2000-01 Naismith College Basketball Player of the Year Award presented by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Murphy, the reigning BIG EAST Player of the Year, averaged 22.7 points and 10.3 rebounds a year ago. He was the first player in league history to lead the conference in both scoring and rebounding in the same season and was the only player nationally to rank in the top 10 in both categories. A first-team consensus All-American, Murphy finished 10th in scoring and ninth in rebounding.
Murphy also is listed as one of the leading preseason candidates for the John R. Wooden Award.
The Naismith Award, now in its 33rd year, honors the outstanding college basketball player in the United States. The award program was founded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club, an organization dedicated to recognizing the achievements of student-athletes in basketball.
The candidates were selected by a vote of the Board of Selectors comprised of leading basketball coaches, journalists and basketball analysts.
The preseason candidates listed in alphabetical order are: Shane Battier (Duke), Lonny Baxter (Maryland), Charlie Bell (Michigan State), Carlos Boozer (Duke), Cory Bradford (Illinois), Eric Chenowith (Kansas), Jarron Collins (Stanford), Juan Dixon (Maryland), Joe Forte (North Carolina), Jason Gardner (Arizona), Tony Harris (Tennessee), Udonis Haslem (Florida), Brendan Haywood (North Carolina), Casey Jacobson (Stanford), Richard Jefferson (Arizona), Joe Johnson (Arkansas), Ken Johnson (Ohio State), Kaspars Kambala (UNLV), Jason Kapono (UCLA), Mike Kelley (Wisconsin), Terence Morris (Maryland), Troy Murphy (Notre Dame), Tayshaun Prince (Kentucky), Kenny Satterfield (Cincinnati), Brian Scalabrine (Southern California), Jamaal Tinsley (Iowa State), Jason Williams (Duke), Loren Woods (Arizona), Michael Wright (Arizona) and Vincent Yarbrough (Tennessee).