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College Basketball Fans Help Choose Wooden Award Player of the Year

LOS ANGELES (March 15, 2007) - General Sports Alliances, in collaboration with Opt-It, CSTV and the John R. Wooden Award, has provided a platform for college basketball fans to cast their vote for the Wooden Award Player of the Year. It did not take long for fans to get involved with the selection process as nearly 19,000 fans cast their vote in the first week.

"Fans have been voting on WoodenAward.com and text messaging from their cell phones nonstop and with the NCAA Tournament starting this week we're expecting the numbers to get even higher," said Christin Maxwell, manager of the John R. Wooden Award. "We're thrilled with this component of the award. We knew the fans wanted to chime in, so we gave them the opportunity and they've definitely spoken."

Through the first week of voting, the fan favorites for the Wooden Award Player of the Year include Kevin Durant of Texas, Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina, and Chris Lofton of Tennessee. There are many other players still with a chance at winning the fan's vote including Aaron Brooks of Oregon, Drew Neitzel of Michigan State, and Alando Tucker of Wisconsin.

All fan votes will be tabulated and counted as one ballot towards the actual final tally. Fans who submit votes via text messaging will be entered into a sweepstakes to win a VIP experience for two at the Wooden Award Presentation Gala. Up to date stats on the fans' vote for Wooden Award player of the year as well as an inside look at the award candidates are only available via the weekly "Wooden Watch" newsletter. To cast your vote or to sign up for the "Wooden Watch," log onto www.WoodenAward.com.

On Tuesday, March 27, the 10-player Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced. The 2007 Award ceremony, which will include the presentation of the Men's and Women's Wooden Award, the Wooden Award All-American Teams, and the Legends of Coaching Award to recipient Gene Keady of Purdue University, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on April 7, 2007. The top five male and female finalists will be invited to Los Angeles for the awards ceremony and will receive a contribution from The Los Angeles Athletic Club for their university's general scholarship fund.

For more information on the John R. Wooden Award and sponsorship opportunities, please contact Chris Foy, President of General Sports Alliances at (303) 713-8597, or visit www.WoodenAward.com.

About the John R. Wooden Award

Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation's best player at an institution of higher education who has proven to his or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include such notables as Larry Bird ('79), Michael Jordan ('84), Tim Duncan ('97), Andrew Bogut ('05), and last year's recipients, Seimone Augustus ('06) and J.J. Redick ('06).

Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed close to a million dollars to universities' general scholarship fund in the names of the All-American recipients as well as sent over 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps in the awards name. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament, which brings together Special Olympic athletes and the All-American selections, takes place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on the Friday prior to the John R. Wooden Award Ceremony.

About General Sports Alliances

General Sports Alliances is a national sales agency that specializes in sponsorship sales and negotiations for premier sports and entertainment properties and municipalities. Given its intimate knowledge of the sponsorship industry, GSA also provides consulting for corporations seeking to secure major, multi-year sponsorship marketing relationships. Built on quality, integrity, and the passion to drive client business, GSA delivers pure and measurable results and has firmly established itself as the Country's premier sports sponsorship and naming rights company.



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