Thompson Jr. Earns John R. Wooden Award
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State men’s basketball signee Stephen Thompson Jr. was named the CIF Southern Section Division IV High School Player of the Year by the John R. Wooden Award Committee on Monday.
Thompson led Bishop Montgomery High School to the CIF Southern Section Open Division title, averaging 24.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 2.6 steals. He holds the school records for career points (2,246), season points (803), season scoring average (24.4) and career wins (114).
The 6-foot-3 guard will be presented his award in conjunction with the April 10 ESPN College Basketball Awards Show at Club Nokia at LA Live in Los Angeles. This year marks the 39th anniversary of the Wooden Award, and the high school winners will be honored along with the men’s and women’s Wooden All American teams and the Legends of Coaching honoree, Steve Fisher of San Diego State University.
Oregon State’s 2015 class includes Derrick Bruce, a 6-foot-3, 165-pound guard from Orlando, Fla.; Drew Eubanks, a 6-foot-10, 225-pound forward from Troutdale, Ore.; Gligorije Rakocevic, a 6-foot-10, 245-pound center from Bijelo Polj, Montenegro; Stephen Thompson Jr., a 6-foot-3, 165-pound guard from Torrance, Calif., and Tres Tinkle, a 6-foot-7, 215-pound forward from Missoula, Mont. The class is ranked 15th in the nation by 247Sports.com and 18th in the nation by Rivals.com, the highest-ever recruiting class rankings in school history.
About the John R. Wooden Award
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 minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include such notables as Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97), Candace Parker (’07 and ’08), Kevin Durant (’09) and Maya Moore of Connecticut (’09 and ‘11). Doug McDermott of Creighton won the 2014 Wooden Award presented by Wendy’s.
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed close to a million dollars to universities’ general scholarship fund in the names of the All American recipients. The Award has also sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps in the Award’s name. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament, which brings together Special Olympic athletes and the All Americans, takes place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club the weekend of April 10-12.
