LSU freshman sensation Ben Simmons has the highest of expectations placed on him like winning some sort of player of the year award and taking his team to the NCAA Tournament. However, all of that is looking shaky as he was just deemed ineligible to receive the Wooden Award handed out to the best college basketball player every year.
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Simmons has definitely been the one of, if not the best, player in college basketball this year despite it being his first year. He's averaging 19.7 points per game, 5.1 assists, and 11.9 rebounds. He has been the sole reason LSU has been any good this year and really has shined despite his coach's ineptitude to get him the ball in crucial stretches of games (like the Oklahoma game).
However, ESPN's Jeff Goodman is reporting that Simmons did not meet the academic requirements to win the award, which is why he was not named as one of the 15 finalists for the award. Coach Johnny Jones and LSU spokesman Kent Lowe said that Simmons basically didn't keep a 2.0 (the minimum required to be eligible for the award) and so the school could not confirm him as a candidate.
