UC Santa Barbara senior Orlando Johnson was selected to the Midseason Top 25 list for the John R. Wooden Award, the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball bestowed upon the nation's best player.

Johnson, who joined Long Beach State senior guard Casper Ware on the Wooden Award Preseason Top-50 list in early October, becomes the first Big West player in 20 years to earn his way onto the top-25 list.  In 1991, Larry Johnson of UNLV was the recipient of the John R. Wooden Award.

A 6-5 guard from Seaside, Calif., Johnson leads the Big West in scoring (20.2 ppg) and minutes played (36.1 mpg).  He also ranks in the conference top 10 in almost every statistical category, including rebounding (6.6 rpg - 5th), field goal percentage (.437 - 9th), assists (2.9 apg - 10th), three-point field goal percentage (.406 - 7th) and blocked shots (1.1 bpg - 5th).

He has won the Big West scoring title in each of the last two seasons, and is the frontrunner to become the conference's first three-time scoring champion.  The 2010 Big West Player of the Year, Johnson leads the conference with nine games of 20 points or more.  He has scored 1,497 points in just two-plus seasons to rank No. 5 on the UC Santa Barbara career list.  Johnson needs 200 points to become the Gaucho all-time scoring leader.

The midseason list was selected by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board, who chose the 25 student-athletes based on their performances in November, December and the beginning of January.  The John R. Wooden Award All American Team will be announced the week of the "Elite Eight" during the NCAA Tournament.  The John R. Wooden Award winner will be announced the weekend of the Final Four in New Orleans, La.