LOS ANGELES – Ole Miss sophomore Terrico White and Mississippi State senior Jarvis Varnado have been named preseason candidates for 2009-2010 John R. Wooden All-American team and Player of the Year trophy.

The 50-member list, which also includes SEC players Tyler Smith (Tennessee), Patrick Patterson (Kentucky), A.J. Ogilvy (Vanderbilt), South Carolina’s Devan Downey and Tasmin Mitchell (LSU), was released Wednedsay.

Last year, White was named the SEC’s top freshman by both the league coaches and Associated Press after he averaged 18.4 points per game in conference play, most among league freshmen and fourth-most among all players. The Memphis, Tenn., native also received Freshman All-America distinction from several outlets and All-SEC second-team status. He racked up at least 20 points in nine games after being forced to move to point guard following a season-ending injury to all-star floor general Chris Warren.

Varnado enters his senior season just 93 points shy of becoming the 31st player in school history to score 1,000 for a career.

Last year’s SEC Tournament MVP also has 340 career blocked shots and needs just 18 more to tie Shaquille O’Neal’s league mark of 412 and 141 more to tie the NCAA record of 535 set by Wojciech Mydra of Louisiana-Monroe.