Okafor and Gordon Headline All-BIG EAST First Team; Boone, T. Brown & Villanueva Also Honored

PROVIDENCE, RI (March 8) – Juniors Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon of the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team headline the 2003-04 All-BIG EAST First Team, by a vote of the league’s head coaches, announced on Monday morning by the league office. This marks the first time in UConn history that the Huskies have placed two players on the first team.

For the second straight year, Okafor has been named to the BIG EAST First Team and becomes the fifth player in UConn history to earn first team honors twice, joining Richard Hamilton, Ray Allen, Donyell Marshall and Corny Thompson. All five players have earned that first team recognition in consecutive seasons.

UConn senior Taliek Brown was named to the 2003-04 BIG EAST Honorable Mention Team and freshmen Josh Boone and Charlie Villanueva were selected to the BIG EAST All-Rookie Team. The honor for Boone and Villanueva is the fourth time that a pair of Huskies have earned all-rookie honors in the same season. They join Nadav Henefeld and Scott Burrell (1989-90), Doron Sheffer and Ray Allen (1993-94) and Okafor and Gordon (2001-02) as UConn teammates on the all-rookie squad.

Okafor finished fifth in the league in scoring with an 18.7 average and first in rebounding with an 11.5 mark. His blocked shot average of 4.5 leads the conference and the nation. He led the BIG EAST in field goal percentage, hitting at a 61.0 clip.

Gordon was the Husky back court scoring threat. He averaged 17.2 points and led the league in 3-point shooting with a 45.3 mark in all games and was second in conference play, hitting 42.6 percent.

Ties in the voting created a seven-player first team. The other first team members including Okafor and Gordon are: Craig Smith of Boston College, Ryan Gomes of Providence, Andre Barrett of Seton Hall, Hakim Warrick of Syracuse and Bryant Matthews of Virginia Tech. Okafor joins Gomes as unanimous selections to the All-BIG EAST First Team. Okafor, Gomes, Matthews and Warrick all finished among the top five in the league in scoring and rebounding.

Brown led the BIG EAST in assists averaging 6.60 in all games and 6.75 in league play and ended with a league-second in assist/turnover ratio at 6.60 for all games and 2.57 in league play. Brown’s league-leading assists is the second time in UConn history that a Husky ended the season atop of that category. Brown joins Kevin Ollie (1994-95) who completed the season at 5.9 assist per game. Brown averaged 5.6 points per game for the Huskies.

In his first season at Connecticut, Boone has started in 28 of his 29 games played. He averages 5.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game and has a team-second 52 blocked shots. Villanueva is only one of four Huskies that scored in double-figures this season averaging 10.0 points per game. He is second in rebounding behind Okafor grabbing down 5.3 boards per game.

2003-04 All-BIG EAST First Team
Craig Smith Boston College So. 6-7 265 Los Angeles, Calif.
Ben Gordon Connecticut Jr. 6-3 200 Mount Vernon, N.Y.
*Emeka Okafor Connecticut Jr. 6-10 252 Houston, Texas
*Ryan Gomes Providence Jr. 6-7 245 Waterbury, Conn.
Andre Barrett Seton Hall Sr. 5-10 172 Bronx, N.Y.
Hakim Warrick Syracuse Jr. 6-8 209 Philadelphia, Pa.
Bryant Matthews Virginia Tech Sr. 6-7 215 Columbia, S.C.

2003-04 All-BIG EAST Second Team
Darius Rice Miami Sr. 6-10 222 Jackson, Miss.
Chris Thomas Notre Dame Jr. 6-1 185 Indianapolis, Ind.
Jaron Brown Pittsburgh Sr. 6-4 229 Lexington, Ky.
Carl Krauser Pittsburgh So. 6-2 200 Bronx, N.Y.
Gerry McNamara Syracuse So. 6-2 179 Scranton, Pa.

2003-04 All-BIG EAST Third Team
Gerald Riley Georgetown Sr. 6-6 217 Milledgeville, Ga.
Chris Taft Pittsburgh Fr. 6-10 250 Coney Island, N.Y.
Herve Lamizana Rutgers Jr. 6-10 215 Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Allan Ray Villanova Jr. 6-2 175 Bronx, N.Y.
Curtis Sumpter Villanova So. 6-7 205 Brooklyn, N.Y.

2003-04 BIG EAST Honorable Mention
Taliek Brown Connecticut Sr. 6-1 195 Queens, N.Y.
Torin Francis Notre Dame So. 6-11 252 Boston, Mass.
Julius Page Pittsburgh Sr. 6-3 191 Buffalo, N.Y.
Kelly Whitney Seton Hall So. 6-8 240 Chicago, Ill.

BIG EAST All-Rookie Team
*Jared Dudley Boston College Fr. 6-7 210 San Diego, Calif.
Josh Boone, Connecticut Fr. 6-10 230 Mt. Airy, Md.
Charlie Villanueva Connecticut Fr. 6-11 230 Brooklyn, N.Y.
Guillermo Diaz Miami Fr. 6-3 178 San Juan, Puerto Rico
*Chris Taft Pittsburgh Fr. 6-10 250 Coney Island, N.Y.
Quincy Douby Rutgers Fr. 6-3 175 Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mike Nardi Villanova Fr. 6-0 170 Linden, N.J.