Vonteego Cummings Named to Wooden Mid-Season List
12/29/1998 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
PITTSBURGH - University of Pittsburgh senior guard Vonteego Cummings is one of 30 players named to the John R. Wooden All-American Team and Player of the Year Mid-Season list, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced today.
The Wooden Award Mid-Season Top 30 is based on player performances through the first half of the collegiate season, as determined by members of the Wooden Award Committee.
Cummings (Thomson, Ga./Thomson) leads Pittsburgh in scoring (17.4 points per game), assists (4.8) and steals (3.2). He is the only player to rank among the Big East's top six in each category, ranking sixth, fourth (tied) and second respectively.
"Vonteego's leadership and on-court play has given us the opportunity to be ranked for the first time in six seasons," Head Coach Ralph Willard said. "Once again he is among the Big East leaders in both offensive and defensive categories, proving he is a great all-around basketball player."
Cummings scored 24 and 20 points on consecutive days as the Panthers upset 10th-ranked Xavier and fourth-ranked Kentucky at the Puerto Rico Shootout to propel Pittsburgh into the rankings. In his last two games, he matched career highs in dishing out nine assists versus top-ranked Connecticut and getting six steals versus Howard. Cummings also averages 4.2 rebounds per contest and is shooting 43.8 percent from the field and 41.2 from 3-point range.
John R. Wooden Award Mid-Season
All-American Team Top 30 Candidates
Player School Elton Brand. . . . . . . . . . . Duke Lenny Brown. . . . . . . . . . . Xavier Geno Carlisle. . . . . . . . . . California Mateen Cleaves . . . . . . . . . Michigan State Brian Cardinal . . . . . . . . . Purdue Ed Cota. . . . . . . . . . . . . North Carolina Vonteego Cummings. . . . . . . . Pittsburgh Baron Davis. . . . . . . . . . . UCLA Khalid El-Amin . . . . . . . . . Connecticut Evan Eschmeyer . . . . . . . . . Northwestern Steve Francis. . . . . . . . . . Maryland A.J. Guyton. . . . . . . . . . . Indiana Richard Hamilton . . . . . . . . Connecticut Tony Harris. . . . . . . . . . . Tennessee Tim James. . . . . . . . . . . . Miami Jumaine Jones. . . . . . . . . . Georgia Trajan Langdon . . . . . . . . . Duke Arthur Lee . . . . . . . . . . . Stanford Todd MacCulloch. . . . . . . . . Washington Kenyon Martin. . . . . . . . . . Cincinnati Mark Madsen. . . . . . . . . . . Stanford B.J. McKie . . . . . . . . . . . South Carolina Andre Miller . . . . . . . . . . Utah Lee Nailon . . . . . . . . . . . Texas Christian Scott Padgett. . . . . . . . . . Kentucky Laron Profit . . . . . . . . . . Maryland Ryan Robertson . . . . . . . . . Kansas Wally Szczerbiak . . . . . . . . Miami (Ohio) Jason Terry. . . . . . . . . . . Arizona Wayne Turner . . . . . . . . . . Kentucky