Dee Brown was named one of the nation’s best college basketball players Monday, earning a spot on the Naismith Trophy mid-season list. The Atlanta Tipoff Club chose the Illini point guard as one of 30 candidates for the award, which is issued at the end of the season.

“This year’s field of potential winners is beginning to come into shape,” Gary Stokan, Atlanta Tipoff Club president, said in a press release. “As we head into the stretch run of the season and approach tournament time, I’d expect many of these young men to show why they deserve to be considered for the Naismith Trophy.”

Brown was first selected as a top-50 candidate on the pre-season watch list. The Club’s Board of Selectors, which includes leading basketball journalists, coaches and administrators from around the country, chose the 2006 candidates.

The list of candidates will be narrowed to four finalists before a winner is announced at the NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis.

Utah’s Andrew Bogut won the award last season. Other past winners include Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing.

Fans will have an opportunity to influence which player is chosen as the final winner. Cingular Wireless, a sponsor of the award, will allow fans to text message votes for their favorite candidates.

“The Naismith Trophy is special not only because it represents the best player in the country, but because it also allows college basketball fans an unprecedented voice in determining the winner,” David Garver, a Cingular Wireless executive, said in the release.