CIAA Places Five on South Atlantic All-Region Team

CLINTON, SC — The 2002-03 Daktronics NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball South Atlantic All-Region teams have been announced and CIAA players make up nearly half the team. Player-of-the-Year Patrick Pope from Saint Augustine's, Tournament MVP Tim Washington from Bowie State and Johnson C. Smith's Marco Spears were named to the First Team. Shaw's Kenyon Booker and North Carolina Central's Shawn Ray were picked for the Second Team.

Seven members of the 11-member All-region teams are participating in this weekend’s NCAA South Atlantic Regional, a sign of how deep the talent pool is in this region.

Pope, a 6-1 senior guard from Clinton, MD, earned 2002-03 CIAA Player of the Year honors after averaging 25.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 2.9 steals while shooting 40.4% from the field, 37.1% from three-point range, and 87.2% from the free throw line this season. In addition, he is second in CIAA history in career steals (237) and 29th in league history in career points (1,945) while scoring career-high 46 points versus Virginia Union in this year’s CIAA Tournament.

Washington, a 6-9 senior center from Washington, DC led the Bulldogs to the 2003 CIAA Championship, a #10 national rnking, and a trip to the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional. He averaged 20.0 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.0 blocks en route to a first team CIAA honor. He led the Bulldogs to a school record for wins this season. Washington is second on the career scoring list at Bowie State with 1,348 points, a feat he accomplished in only three years of play for BSU.

Spears, a 6-5 forward from Buies Creek, NC led the Golden Bulls to a third place finish in the CIAA Eastern Division, and areturn trip to the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional. He averaged 21.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.5 blocks per game. He ranks 34th in NCAA Division II in scoring and scored a career-high 39 points on two occasions this season. For his career, Spears surpassed the 1,000 -point milestone in a lottle over a season and half of play for JCSU.

Booker, a 6-9 senior from Clarksdale, MS averaged 15.4 points, 11.2 rebounds and 2.3 per game for the Bears this season, while shooting 51 percent from the field. Booker is ranked 9th in the nation in rebounds and was named to the All-CIAA and All-CIAA Tournament teams this season.

Ray, a 6-5 senior from Raleigh, NC finished the regular season as the only player in the conference to be ranked in each of the major statistical categories (eighth in scoring, 16th in rebounding, seventh in assists, fourth in steals, and 12th in blocked shots). He also placed third in free throw percentage, fifth in assist/turnover ratio, 11th in 3-point field goal percentage, 14th in 3-point field goals made, and 13th in offensive rebounds. He was a First Team All-CIAA selection and member of the 2003 CIAA All-Tournament Team.

2002-03 DAKTRONICS INC./CoSIDA NCAA DIVISION II MEN’S BASKETBALL
ALL-SOUTH ATLANTIC REGION TEAMS
FIRST TEAM
Jed Bedford, Columbus State University
Djuan Hankins, Wingate University
Patrick Pope, Saint Augustine’s College
Marco Spears, Johnson C. Smith University
Tim Washington, Bowie State University

SECOND TEAM
Kenyon Booker, Shaw University
Deshawn Bowman, Columbus State University
Kyle Gribble, Carson-Newman College
Terrence Hill, Kennesaw State University
Shawn Ray, North Carolina Central University
Chuck Rayford, Presbyterian College