TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (seminoles.com) – Florida State senior Michael Snaer, the Most Valuable Player of the 2012 ACC Tournament, has been named as one of 50 college basketball players to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 list by the Los Angeles Club. Saner is one of seven players from the ACC named to the initial list for the 2012-13 season chosen in a poll of national college basketball writers and broadcasters. The list is comprised of student-athletes who, based on last year’s individual performance and team records, are the early front-runners for one of college basketball’s most prestigious honors.

Snaer is a preseason All-American First Team selection (by Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook), the runner-up pick as the ACC Player of the Year (Atlantic Coast Media Association) and a consensus preseason All-ACC First Team selection.

Other ACC players nominated include Lorenzo Brown and C.J. Leslie of NC State, Seth Curry and Mason Plumlee of Duke and James Michael McAdoo of North Carolina.

Snaer led Florida State with a career-high 14.0 points per game scoring average in 2012, is the Seminoles' returning leader in five different statistical categories including scoring, steals, assists and minutes played. Snaer led the Seminoles in both scoring (489 points / 14.0 ppg) and minutes played (1,065 minutes played / 30.4 MPG) in 2012. He finished in 10th place in the 2012 ACC statistics in scoring and is the fifth leading returning scorer in the ACC for the 2013 season.

Florida State is ranked No. 25 in the AP Poll and is tied for 24th in the USA Today Coaches' Poll to begin the 2012-13 season. It marks the first time in school history the Seminoles have been included in the preseason poll by both the writers and the coaches in the same season. Florida State is ranked 25th in the preseason men's college basketball poll by the Associated Press marking the first time since the 1992-93 season that the Seminoles have been ranked nationally in the preseason writers' poll. The Seminoles are one of three ACC teams -- NC State (sixth), Duke (eighth) and North Carolina (11th) - to begin the season nationally ranked. The Seminoles were a combined 5-1 against the Wolfpack (1-0), the Blue Devils (2-1) and the Tar Heels (2-0) last season and defeated North Carolina, 85-82, in the championship game of the 2012 ACC Tournament on March 11 at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Ga.

Florida State opens its 2012-13 regular season Friday night against South Alabama at the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee with good seats still available by logging onto Seminoles.com or by calling 1-888-FSU-NOLE.

2012 John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50

Name
Height
Class
Position
University
Conference

Michael Snaer
6-5
Sr.
G
Florida State
ACC

Jarnell Stokes
6-8
So.
F
Tennessee
SEC

Keith Appling
6-1
Jr.
G
Michigan State
Big Ten

Chane Behanan
6-6
So.
F
Louisville
Big East

Kenny Boynton
6-2
Sr.
G
Florida
SEC

Lorenzo Brown
6-5
Jr.
G
North Carolina State
ACC

Trey Burke
6-0
So.
G
Michigan
Big Ten

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
6-5
So.
G
Georgia
SEC

Isaiah Canaan
6-1
Sr.
G
Murray State
Ohio Valley

Jack Cooley
6-9
Sr.
F
Notre Dame
Big East

D.J. Cooper
6-0
Sr.
G
Ohio University
Mid-American

Vincent Council
6-2
Sr.
G
Providence
Big East

Allen Crabbe
6-6
Jr.
G
California
Pac-12

Aaron Craft
6-2
Jr.
G
Ohio State
Big Ten

Seth Curry
6-2
Sr.
G
Duke
ACC

Brandon Davies
6-9
Sr.
F
BYU
West Coast

Matthew Dellavedova
6-4
Sr.
G
Saint Mary's
West Coast

Gorgui Dieng
6-11
Jr.
C
Louisville
Big East

Jamaal Franklin
6-5
Jr.
G
San Diego State
Mountain West

Tim Frazier
6-1
Sr.
G
Penn State
Big Ten

Tim Hardaway, Jr.
6-6
Jr.
G
Michigan
Big Ten

Elias Harris
6-8
Sr.
F
Gonzaga
West Coast

Solomon Hill
6-7
Sr.
F
Arizona
Pac-12

Pierre Jackson
5-10
Sr.
G
Baylor
Big 12

Elijah Johnson
6-4
Sr.
G
Kansas
Big 12

Sean Kilpatrick
6-4
Jr.
G/F
Cincinnati
Big East

C.J. Leslie
6-9
Jr.
F
North Carolina State
ACC

James Michael McAdoo
6-9
So.
F
North Carolina
ACC

Ray McCallum
6-3
Jr.
G
Detroit
Horizon League

C.J. McCollum
6-3
Sr.
G
Lehigh
Patriot League

Doug McDermott*
6-8
Jr.
F
Creighton
Missouri Valley

Rodney McGruder
6-4
Sr.
G
Kansas State
Big 12

Tony Mitchell
6-8
So.
F
North Texas
Sun Belt

Mike Moser
6-8
Jr.
F
UNLV
Mountain West

Brock Motum
6-10
Sr.
F
Washington State
Pac-12

Le'Bryan Nash
6-7
So.
G/F
Oklahoma State
Big 12

Brandon Paul
6-4
Sr.
G
Illinois
Big Ten

Mason Plumlee
6-10
Sr.
F
Duke
ACC

Otto Porter
6-8
So.
F
Georgetown
Big East

Phil Pressey
5-11
Jr.
G
Missouri
SEC

André Roberson
6-7
Jr.
F
Colorado
Pac-12

Peyton Siva
6-0
Sr.
G
Louisville
Big East

Jarnell Stokes
6-8
So.
F
Tennessee
SEC

Adonis Thomas
6-7
So.
G/F
Memphis
Conference USA

Deshaun Thomas
6-7
Jr.
F
Ohio State
Big Ten

Christian Watford
6-9
Sr.
F
Indiana
Big Ten

Jeff Withey
7-0
Sr.
C
Kansas
Big 12

Nate Wolters
6-4
Sr.
G
South Dakota State
Summit League

B.J. Young
6-3
So.
G
Arkansas
SEC

Patric Young
6-9
Jr.
C
Florida
SEC

Cody Zeller
7-0
So.
F
Indiana
Big Ten