University of Connecticut Athletics
Emeka Okafor Named First Team Associated Press All-American
3/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
First Husky to Ever Receive Unanimous First Team Selection
STORRS, CT. (March 23, 2004)-- University of Connecticut men's basketball junior Emeka Okafor has been selected unanimously to the 2004 Associated Press All-America First Team, it was announced Tuesday afternoon. Okafor was joined as a unanimous selection by St. Joseph's guard Jameer Nelson, while Lawrence Roberts of Mississippi State, Josh Childress of Stanford and Ryan Gomes of Providence round out the five-member first team.
The 2004 Associated Press Player of the Year Award will be announced on Friday, April 2 at the NCAA Final Four in San Antonio, TX.
Okafor leads the nation in blocked shots and double-doubles (22) and is No. 2 in the country in rebounding. He is averaging 18.1 points, 11.7 rebounds and 4.3 blocked shots per game for the Huskies. A Finance major with a 3.76 grade point average, Okafor has also been designated this season as the 2004 Academic All-American of the Year.
Okafor is the fourth Husky ever to earn AP First Team All-America honors, joining Donyell Marshall, Ray Allen and Richard Hamilton. Okafor is the school's first ever unanimous choice and he and Nelson represent only the eighth and ninth unanimous selections to the AP First Team in the past 19 years.
"It is hard to express just what it means to be recognized as one of the best players in the country," said Okafor. "It is such a tremendous honor to be the first player in our school's history to be a unanimous selection and to be mentioned in the same sentence as guys like Donyell, Ray and Rip is unbelievable to me. Individual recognition like this is really a reflection of the great teammates and coaches that I am fortunate to work with every day."
"This is an honor that Emeka is very deserving of and one that clearly puts him in a class by himself in the history of our program," said UConn coach Jim Calhoun. "To be recognized universally as the best both academically and athletically is more special than people can possibly realize. Emeka is truly one of a kind."
UConn junior Ben Gordon was an honorable mention Associated Press All-America pick.
The Huskies (29-6) return to action Thursday evening at 7:10 p.m. eastern time when they take on No. 6 seed Vanderbilt in the Phoenix Regional Semifinal at America West Arena. The winner of that contest will take on the winner of the second Thursday regional semifinal between No. 5 Syracuse and No. 8 Alabama in the regional championship game Saturday. Game time for that contest is not yet determined.
