McCallum Named to Wooden Award Top 50

LOS ANGELES – Detroit junior guard Ray McCallum was named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 list, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced on Thursday.  The list recognizes the top-returning players in all of college basketball.

The 2012 list marks the second consecutive year McCallum has opened the season on the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50.

The Los Angeles Athletic Club compiles the list, which is chosen by a preseason poll of national college basketball media members. Each year these 50 student-athletes who, based on last year's individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college basketball's most prestigious honor.

McCallum, the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year and First Team selection for the second-straight season, was named the Horizon League Tournament MVP last year after he helped lead the Titans to the League crown and their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1999. McCallum led the team in scoring (15.4 ppg), assists (4.0 apg) and steals (1.6 spg) for the second-straight season. He was named to the Lou Henson All-America team as well as the National Basketball Coaches Association (NBCA) All-District First Team and the National All-Jesuit Team after a season that saw him become the 37th Titan to surpass 1,000 career points and the first to do it as a sophomore.

He has also been tabbed by Lindy's Sports, Athlon Sports, CBS Sports, ESPN and the Sporting News' as the Horizon League's Preseason Player of the Year.

The 37th annual Wooden Award ceremony will honor the Men's and Women's Wooden Award winners, and will include the presentation of the Wooden Award All American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, which in 2013 will go to Kansas Head Coach Bill Self. The event will take place the weekend of April 12-13, 2013.

Detroit will officially begin its 2012-13 season on Friday, Nov. 9 when the Titans host Northern Michigan University at Calihan Hall. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. and will be streamed live on the Horizon League Network.