Hendrix Preseason Wooden Candidate

Alabama Men's Basketball Coach Mark Gottfried's coaching career began at UCLA, where he was an assistant coach. Although John Wooden, one of the most successful and most famous college basketball coaches was retired, he was still at UCLA and became a mentor to Gottfried. It is interesting that so many Gottfried players at Alabama have become candidates for the award named in Wooden's honor.

Richard Hendrix, a junior All-Southeastern Conference forward at The University of Alabama, is the latest Crimson Tide basketball player to b a preseason candidate for the Wooden Award.

Hendrix has been named to the John R. Wooden Award 2007-08 Preseason Top 50 Candidates.

The Athens native becomes the sixth official Wooden Award candidate Crimson Tide Coach Mark Gottfried has produced since becoming Alabama’s head coach in March of 1998. Ron Steele and Jermareo Davidson made the list in 2007, Chuck Davis in 2006, Kennedy Winston in 2005 and Erwin Dudley in 2003.

Hendrix led Alabama in scoring and rebounding in 2007, averaging 14.6 points and 8.7 rebounds. He led the SEC in field goal percentage in 2007 at 60.4 per cent, making 93 of 154 shots attempted in SEC games and at 60.2 per cent, making 186-309 in all games. He finished fourth in rebounding and 11th in the SEC in scoring as a sophomore last season. Hendrix was “Mr. Basketball” in the State of Alabama as a high school senior at Athens High in 2005.