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Burke Named Finalist For Wooden National Player Of The Year Award

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- University of Michigan men's basketball sophomore guard Trey Burke (Columbus, Ohio/Northland HS) was named today (Saturday, March 9) a finalist for the John R. Wooden National Player of the Year Award and Wooden All-American Team by The Los Angeles Athletic Club.

Burke, who is also a finalist for the Oscar Robertson Player of the Year Award, has helped U-M to a 25-5 overall record with a 12-5 Big Ten record. A win over Indiana Sunday (March 10) would give the Wolverines a share of the Big Ten regular-season title for the second straight year.

Burke is averaging 19.1 points per game overall but has increased that output in conference play to a Big Ten-best 20.2 per game. He is the only player in the Big Ten to score 15 points or more in every conference game and is the only Wolverine to have scored in double figures in all 30 games. He has posted 11 games with 20-plus points, including a season-best 29 vs. Penn State (Feb. 17). He became just the seventh U-M sophomore and 47th Wolverine to score 1,000 career points and currently ranks 42nd in school history with 1,078 career points.

Burke leads the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.65) and ranks ninth in the nation and first in the Big Ten in assists per game (6.93). He became just the fourth Wolverine in history to record more than 200 assists in a season (208) and needs just 28 more to set the Michigan single-season record. Burke's 364 career assists have cracked U-M's all-time top 10, while his 5.69 career assist average ranks second in U-M history.

Burke could become the first Big Ten player to average over 17 points and seven assists since Magic Johnson, who averaged 17.1 points and 8.4 assists during Michigan State's national title season of 1978-79.

The John R. Wooden Award Player of the Year presented by Wendy's will be announced on ESPN during the Final Four Weekend in Atlanta. The Wooden Award All American Team, consisting of the nation's top 10 players, will be announced the week of the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament.

The 2013 Wooden Award Gala presented by Wendy's will take place April 11-13 at The Los Angeles Athletic Club. The gala will honor the men's and women's Wooden Award winners, All-Americans, and the Legends of Coaching Award winner, Kansas head coach Bill Self.

John R. Wooden National Player of the Year Finalists

Anthony Bennett, UNLV
Trey Burke, Michigan
Erick Green, Virginia Tech
Shane Larkin, Miami (Fla.)
Doug McDermott, Creighton
Ben McLemore, Kansas
Victor Oladipo, Indiana
Kelly Olynyk, Gonzaga
Mason Plumlee, Duke
Otto Porter, Jr., Georgetown
Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State
Deshaun Thomas, Ohio State
Jeff Withey, Kansas
Nate Wolters, South Dakota State
Cody Zeller, Indiana

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