Diana Taurasi and Emeka Okafor Honored With ESPY Awards

STORRS, Conn. (July 19, 2004) — The two biggest stars on the University of Connecticut’s basketball programs continued to rack up the accolades following the program’s dual national titles this past April as Diana Taurasi and Emeka Okafor were recipients of ESPY Awards, which were presented last Wednesday at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.

Okafor was honored with the ESPY for “Best Male College Athlete” while Taurasi was named the recipient of the award for “Best Female College Athlete” as well as “Best Female Athlete.”

Past Connecticut winners include Sue Bird (2002) and Diana Taurasi (2003) for Best Female College Athlete, Rebecca Lobo (1996) for Best Female College Basketball Player and Best Female Athlete and the UConn women’s basketball team (1996) for Most Outstanding Team.

For the first time in the event's 12-year history, fans determined the winners in all categories. The move to complete fan voting coincided with the ESPN25 "The Season of the Fan" initiative.

The 2004 ESPY Awards Presented by GMC and Under Armour will brought together athletes and entertainment celebrities to recognize top achievements in sports, relive the memorable moments and salute the best performers and performances. Overall, there were 36 award categories, including both sport-specific honors and awards that cross over all sports (cross-cutters), a unique ESPY Awards hallmark.

The ESPY Awards were created by ESPN in 1993 and are given for Excellence in Sports Performance.