Rudy Gay and Josh Boone Officially Announce
Intention to Return to UConn for 2005-06
STORRS, Conn. (April 6, 2005) – University of Connecticut freshman
forward Rudy Gay (Baltimore, Md.) and sophomore center Josh Boone
(Mt. Airy, Md.) each announced officially Wednesday that he will return to UConn
for the 2005-06 college basketball season.
“I am looking forward to returning to UConn for my junior season,”
said Boone. “I think we are going to have a tremendous team next
season and I look forward to helping us stay at the top of the BIG
EAST and doing everything we can to return to the Final Four and win
another National Championship.”
“I am very excited about next season and returning to UConn for my sophomore
year,” said Gay. “I am looking forward to improving over the summer and doing
everything I can to help us win another BIG EAST championship and go deep into
the NCAA Tournament.”
“Josh comes off a year in which he showed tremendous improvement,” said UConn
coach Jim Calhoun of Boone. “I know that he is going to work hard this summer to
improve even more and will have a chance next season to be one of the best big
men in the country and one of the nation’s best defensive players.”
“We obviously have very high expectations for Rudy in the coming year,” said
UConn coach Jim Calhoun of Gay. “He had a very good freshman year for us and now
will have the opportunity to take it to the next level during this coming summer
and heading into next season. I know he has the potential to be one of the best
players in the country and to help our team achieve great success in the
future.”
In two seasons, Boone has started 68 of 69 games, averaging 8.8 points and
7.0 rebounds. He started all 31 games in 2004-05 at the center position and was
named the 2004-05 BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year. He averaged 12.4
points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.9 blocks on the year and was named All-BIG EAST
Second Team and earned All-NABC and All-USBWA First Team All-District selection.
In 2004-05, Gay was named the National Freshman of the Year by The Sporting
News and was also the 2004-05 BIG EAST Co-Rookie of the Year and a unanimous
selection to the BIG EAST All-Rookie Team. He averaged 11.8 points per game and
started the final 26 games of the season. He was named the BIG EAST Rookie of
the Week five times during the course of the year and reached double figures in
scoring a team-leading 22 times. |
