Cleaves And Peterson Make Cut For Wooden Award
12/31/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 31, 1999
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State seniors Mateen Cleaves (Flint, Mich.) and Morris Peterson (Flint, Mich.) were selected Thursday as Mid-Season All-American Team and Player of the Year Top 30 Candidates for the John R. Wooden Award.
Cleaves, a 6?-2? guard, has missed the first 13 games of the season with a stress fracture in his right foot. He is one of only two 1999 Wooden Award All-Americans on this year?s list of candidates. Auburn?s Chris Porter is the other honoree from last year among this year?s candidates.
Peterson, a 6?-7? forward, leads the Spartans in scoring with 15.9 points-per-game. He is also averaging 5.3 rebounds and is shooting 45.5% from the floor, including 47.5% from three-point range. Peterson has started 12 of 13 games this year, averaging 27.2 minutes. During the 1998-99 season, he earned first-team All-Big Ten honors.
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.
Due to injury, Mateen Cleaves, Stanford?s Mark Madsen and Utah?s Hanno Mattola did not meet the minimum number of games played in the first half to qualify for the list. Therefore, they were not originally among the top-30 candidates. The committee, however, felt that their impact may be measurable upon their return and that they should be noted, bringing the number of candidates up to 33.