Nov. 4, 2011
MBB Games Notes – hosting Western New
Mexico 
Overland Park, Kan. — University of New Mexico forward Drew Gordon continues to rack up honors. The consensus Mountain West preseason Player of the Year and one of 50 candidates on the Wooden Preseason Watch List, Gordon was named one of 30 candidates for the 2011-12 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award.
With his selection to the list of 30, it marks the third straight year that the Lobos have had a candidate. Roman Martinez was honored with a selection in 2009-10, and last year Dairese Gary was a candidate. Only New Mexico and Purdue have had a candidate in each of the last three years.
Gordon, who one of three seniors on the team, played in 26 games last season. Gordon averaged a double-double with 13.0 points per game and 10.5 rebounds per game. He tied a Pit record with 23 boards against Utah, and he became the first Lobo to average a double-double since 1974.
Last season he was the Mountain West Newcomer of the Year, second team All-Conference, and second team All-NABC District 17. He was selected the Mountain West Preseason Player of the Year by the conference as well as by magazines such as Lindy’s and Athlon Sports. On October 3 he was the only Mountain West player named to the Preseason John Wooden Award watch list, which is given to the national Player of the Year.
“I’m very happy for Drew to be one of 30 mentioned for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS award, as it is a terrific honor,” said head coach Steve Alford. “Like all Lobo fans, we hope Drew has a tremendous senior season.”
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition. The complete list of candidates follows this release. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
The 2011-12 candidate class includes three men’s players who were members of last year’s CoSIDA Academic All-American team, one Associated Press All-American and seven players who are on teams ranked in the Associated Press preseason top 25 poll. Lowe’s, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, will announce the men’s Senior CLASS Award® winner during the 2012 NCAA Men’s Final Four®, which will be held March 31 and April 2 in New Orleans.
The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, Division I men’s and women’s coaches and fans who will select one finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
For more information on all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com. The Lobo basketball team takes on Western New Mexico on Saturday night at 7 p.m. at The Pit in the final exhibition game of the season. UNM opens regular season play against New Orleans on Friday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. Both games will be available on the My50-TV, with Saturday’s game broadcast on KNML instead of KKOB 770 AM.
Men’s Basketball Candidates
Tim Abromaitis, Forward, Notre Dame
William Buford, Guard, Ohio State
Kyle Bullinger, Forward, Weber State
Scott Christopherson, Guard, Iowa State
Darnell Gant, Forward, Washington
Ashton Gibbs, Guard, Pittsburgh
Drew Gordon, Forward, New Mexico
Malcolm Grant, Guard, Miami (Florida)
Draymond Green, Forward, Michigan State
Justin Greene, Forward, Kent State
Reggie Hamilton, Guard, Oakland
Mick Hedgepeth, Forward, Belmont
Robbie Hummel, Forward, Purdue
Bernard James, Forward, Florida State
Orlando Johnson, Guard, UC Santa Barbara
Jarrod Jones, Forward, Ball State
Kevin Jones, Forward, West Virginia
Quinn McDowell, Forward, William and Mary
Darius Miller, Guard, Kentucky
Ronald Nored, Guard, Butler
Zack Novak, Guard/Forward, Michigan
Zack Rosen, Guard, Pennsylvania
Jesse Sanders, Guard, Liberty
Tanner Smith, Guard, Clemson
Jordan Taylor, Guard, Wisconsin
Erving Walker, Guard, Florida
Demetrius Ward, Guard, Western Michigan
Kyle Weems, Forward, Missouri State
Chris Wroblewski, Guard, Cornell
Tyler Zeller, Forward, North Carolina