Dec. 14, 2012

TUCSON, Ariz. - University of Arizona men's basketball player Nick Johnson was rated as one of the nation's top players in a list released today by statistician John Pudner and his Value Add system.

Johnson, a 6-foot-3, sophomore guard from Gilbert, Ariz., is rated No. 14 in Pudner's ranking system with a Value Add score of 8.83. According to Pudner, a player with a Value Add rating of 9.0 or higher indicates a player competing at an All-America caliber level, while a rating of 3.0 or more indicates a starting-five caliber player. The complete listing can be found at www.valueaddbasketball.com.

The system, which rates the top 1,500 college basketball players among the nearly 4,000 who currently play, is a percentage in which that player improves his team's output. For example, a player with a Value Add rating of 5.0 theoretically would turn a 75-74 loss for his team into a 79-75 win. It is similar to baseball's Wins Above Replacement metric.

Johnson currently leads the eighth-ranked Wildcats in scoring (13.6 ppg), assists (3.7 apg) and steals (2.7 spg) to go with a .548 (34-of-62) field goal percentage. Johnson and his teammates host No. 5 Florida tomorrow at 8 p.m. MST in McKale Center. The game can be seen on ESPN.

Rnk, Player, Team, H.t, Yr. , Value Add  Rating
(Through games of December 12, 2012)
1.	Erick Green, Virginia Tech, 6-3, Sr., Value Add= 11.76
2.	Mason Plumlee, Duke, 6-10, Sr., Value Add= 11.71
3.	Mike Muscala, Bucknell, 6-11, Sr., Value Add= 11.53
4.	Ed Daniel, Murray State, 6-7, Sr., Value Add= 10.72
5.	Shabazz Napier, Connecticut, 6-1, Jr., Value Add= 10.52
6.	C.J. McCollum, Lehigh, 6-3, Sr., Value Add= 10.00
7.	Ian Clark, Belmont, 6-3, Sr., Value Add= 9.79
8.	Nate Wolters, South Dakota State, 6-4, Sr., Value Add= 9.49
9.	Isaiah Canaan, Murray State, 6-1, Sr., Value Add= 9.28
10.	Matthew Dellavedova, Saint Mary's, 6-4, Sr., Value Add= 9.05
11.	Brandon Paul, Illinois, 6-4, Sr., Value Add= 9.01
12.	Trevor Releford, Alabama, 6-0, Jr., Value Add= 9.00
13.	Pierre Jackson, Baylor, 5-10, Sr., Value Add= 8.97
14.	Nick Johnson, Arizona, 6-3, So., Value Add= 8.83
15.	Ceola Clark, Western Illinois, 6-3, Sr., Value Add= 8.80
16.	Keith Clanton, Central Florida, 6-9, Sr., Value Add= 8.79
17.	Jeff Early, Southern Illinois, 6-1, Sr., Value Add= 8.78
18.	Zeke Marshall, Akron, 7-0, Sr., Value Add= 8.77
19.	Trey Burke, Michigan, 6-0, So., Value Add= 8.64
20.	Jordan Hulls, Indiana, 6-0, Sr., Value Add= 8.61