Jan. 26, 2004

Deacon freshman Chris Paul is one of 30 midseason candidates for the John R. Wooden Award and Wooden All-America Team, it was announced Jan. 26.

Paul is averaging 12.3 points, 5.7 assists and 3.5 steals per game. He leads the ACC and ranks fourth nationally in steals. Paul ranks fourth in the ACC in assists and second in assist-turnover ratio.

Paul is one of just two freshmen on the Wooden list, joining Minnesota's Kris Humphries. He is one of four ACC players on the list, joining Duke's Chris Duhon, Georgia Tech's B.J. Elder and UNC's Sean May.

The complete list of candidates can be found at: http://www.woodenaward.com/ .