State's Mario Austin Named Coaches All-SEC First Team; Chosen As Finalist For Official Wooden Award Ballot
Joining Austin on the coaches' five-man first team are SEC Player of the Year Keith Bogans of Kentucky, Georgia's Jarvis Hayes, Matt Bonner of Florida and Tennessee's Ron Slay. Tubby Smith of SEC Champion Kentucky was chosen SEC Coach of the Year, while Florida guard Anthony Roberson earned SEC Freshman of the Year honors.
A second-team all-SEC selection a year ago as a sophomore by both AP and the conference coaches, Austin becomes the first Mississippi State men's basketball player to collect first-team, all-league honors since former Bulldog forward Horatio Webster garnered Coaches All-SEC First Team laurels during his senior campaign of 1997-98.
In addition to being chosen to this year's Associated Press All-SEC First Team, Austin has been selected as one of 22 finalists to be included on the official ballot for the 2002-03 John R. Wooden Award All-American Team and Player of the Year. Presented annually to the nation's top collegiate basketball player, the 27th annual Wooden Award Ceremony will be televised live from the Los Angeles Athletic Club on Saturday, April 12. The 6-9, 260-pound Austin is joined on this year's Wooden Award official ballot by SEC foes Bonner and Slay of Florida and Tennessee, respectively.
This season, Austin has also been named to both the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) All-District IV and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District 6 First Teams.
The reigning SEC Tournament MVP, Austin enters this week's league tourney ranked 10th in the conference in scoring (15.6 ppg), third in rebounding (7.9 rpg) and second in field-goal percentage (55.0%). The former McDonald's High School All-American from York, Ala., begins postseason play ranked 19th on Mississippi State's all-time scoring list with 1,139 career points and tied for 20th with 543 career rebounds.
With their first SEC Western Division title and subsequent No. 1 seed since 1995-96, coach Rick Stansbury's defending SEC Tournament Champion Bulldogs will take on the winner of Thursday's Mississippi-South Carolina first-round contest during quarterfinal-round action Friday at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. Tip-off for State's opening game of the 2003 SEC Tournament is slated for noon, and the game is set to be televised by Jefferson-Pilot Sports and slated to be aired locally in the Golden Triangle area of Mississippi on FOX Sports Net South.