Sanni Named Finalist for All-America Honors

West Virginia University senior center Olayinka Sanni has been named a national finalist for the 2008 State Farm Coaches’ All-America Basketball Team.

A 6-2, Chicago Heights, Ill., native, Sanni is one of 40 finalists who will determine the 10-member State Farm Coaches’ All-America Team that will be named April 5.

Sanni guided No. 17/18 West Virginia (25-8, 12-4) to its season-long national Top 20 ranking. She led the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 16.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. She reached double figures in scoring in 27-of-33 contests on the season, including 11 games with 20 or more points and six double-doubles.

Other finalists from the Big East include Connecticut’s Tina Charles, Renee Montgomery and Maya Moore, Rutgers’ Matee Ajavon, Essence Carson and Epiphanny Prince, Louisville’s Angel McCoughtry and Pitt’s Marcedes Walker.

West Virginia closed the 2008 season with a second-consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament’s second round. The Mountaineers defeated New Mexico 61-60, at The Pit, in Albuquerque, N.M., before falling to Vanderbilt 64-46 in second-round action.