The ballots have been sent out and University of Vermont senior Taylor Coppenrath is on them.

Coppenrath is one of 23 players to make the final cut for the John R. Wooden Award official ballot mailed to 1,000 voters in 50 states this week to determine the best Division I basketball player in the country.

The 6-foot-9 Catamounts forward has been named America East’s player of the year each of the last three seasons and is one of three players on teams the University of Maine men’s team played against this season. The other two are Boston College junior forward Craig Smith and Providence College senior forward Ryan Gomes.

“We’ve seen Coppenrath more than the other two and Smith was injured when we played BC,” said Maine senior guard Chris Markwood. “Gomes and Coppenrath are two different players. Coppenrath is someone who likes to carve out space for himself and is more of a tactical player. He knows how to use his body and he’s not as physically talented as those other two guys.

“Smith is big and athletic. He’s huge. He must weigh 250 to 260 pounds. He’s 6-7, which makes him a small forward, but as soon as he gets his body into you, you’re done. He also has a lot of quickness and has turned into a slasher.”

Maine senior forward Mark Flavin played with and against Gomes during high school basketball camps.

“He was strictly a post player early on. He didn’t even shoot it as a freshman,” Flavin said. “He’s smart and kind of like Copppenrath in a way, only more athletic. He gets deep in the post and uses his body well. I think he gets a lot of people in foul trouble with his quickness and he has a lot of different post moves.

“Coppenrath was just huge whenever he played against us. He never seems to have a bad game, against anybody. They both deserve to be on that list.”

The Wooden Award winner will be announced Saturday, April 9. The top 10 vote-getters comprise the All-American team and the top five receive special awards and scholarship checks for their schools.

MCI postgrads honored

Maine Central Institute postgraduate players Junior Bernal and William Harris have been nominated to be considered for the 2005 McDonald’s All-American High School boys basketball game.

The MCI players are two of 1,600 players nationwide to be nominated for the 24 spots on the team that will compete in the 28th anniversary McDonald’s All-American game Wednesday, March 30, in South Bend, Ind.

Bernal, a 6-foot-4 guard from Manhattan, N.Y., led Hyde School in Bath to the 2003 Western Maine Class D championship. He has already committed to play for the University of Maine next season.