Barnes named to Midseason Wooden Award list
Photo special to the Outlook
By Chuck Walsh
Seminoles.com
Florida State freshman Scottie Barnes, who leads the Seminoles in assists and who is second in scoring, has been named to the Midseason Top-25 Watch List for the John R. Wooden Award and All-American Team.
Barnes averages 11.1 points and a team-leading 4.3 assists for the nationally ranked Seminoles.
Barnes is one of only four freshmen from around the nation and one of only five players from the ACC on the Wooden Award Midseason Top-25 list. He is the only freshman from the ACC on the list which includes senior Garrison Brooks (North Carolina), senior Sam Hauser (Virginia), sophomore Matthew Hurt (Duke) and senior Carlik Jones (Louisville).
In addition to being a top candidate for the Wooden Award and Wooden All-American Team, Barnes is also a candidate for the Naismith (top national player) and the Bob Cousy Award (nation’s top point guard).
Barnes earned ACC Rookie of the Week honors for the first time in his career for his performances in victories over Indiana and No. 25 Florida (Dec. 14). He scored the game-winning basket with 1.8 seconds remaining in overtime to give Florida State a 69-67 win over Indiana in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Tallahassee.
Against the Hoosiers, he totaled nine points, four rebounds, five assists and four steals in just his second career start. Barnes scored his career-high of 17 points to go along with five assists, two rebounds and one steal in Florida State’s 83-71 win over the Gators at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
Barnes scored a team-leading 16 points to go along with six rebounds and two steals in his first career ACC game — a 74-61 win over Georgia Tech in Tallahassee (Dec. 15) and totaled a team-high 14 points, five assists and four rebounds in Florida State’s road game at Clemson (Dec. 29).
The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2021 John R. Wooden Award Men’s Player of the Year presented by Wendy’s. Players not chosen to the preseason or midseason list are still eligible for the Wooden Award National Ballot.
The National Ballot consists of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the Wooden Award. Nearly 1,000 voters will rank in order 10 of those 15 players when voting opens prior to the NCAA Tournament and will allow voters to take into consideration performance during early round games
The Wooden Award All American Team will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the 2021 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Wendy’s following the NCAA Tournament.
