University of Connecticut Athletics
Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon Among Naismith Player of the Year Candidates
11/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
ATLANTA, GA (November 6, 2003) – University of Connecticut juniors Emeka Okafor (Houston, TX) and Ben Gordon (Mount Vernon, NY) are among the leading candidates on the list of men’s pre-season candidates for the 2003-2004 Naismith College Basketball Player of the Year Awards. Jackie Bradford, President of the Atlanta Tipoff Club, announced the candidates Thursday.
The Naismith Awards program, now in its 36th year, honors the outstanding college basketball players in the United States. The awards program was founded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club, an organization dedicated to recognizing the achievements of student-athletes in basketball.
The candidates were selected by a vote of the Board of Selectors comprised of leading basketball coaches, journalists, and basketball analysts.
The pre-season candidates for the Naismith Award, listed in alphabetical order, are as follows:
Male Candidates
Andre Barrett, Seton Hall
Dee Brown, Illinois
Josh Childress, Stanford
Paul Davis, Michigan State
Ike Diogu, Arizona State
Chris Duhon, Duke
Andre Emmett, Texas Tech
Raymond Felton, UNC
Channing Frye, Arizona
Ben Gordon, UConn
David Harrison, Colorado
Chris Hill, Michigan State
Julius Hodge, NC State
Luke Jackson, Oregon
Keith Langford, Kansas
Rashad McCants, UNC
Marcus Moore, Washington State
Brandon Mouton, Texas
Jameer Nelson, St. Joseph’s
Emeka Okafor, UConn
Rickey Paulding, Missouri
J.J. Redick, Duke
Darius Rice, Miami
Romain Sato, Xavier
Wayne Simien, Kansas
Salim Stoudamire, Arizona
Amit Tamir, California
Chris Thomas, Notre Dame
Hakim Warrick, Syracuse
Bracey Wright, Indiana
