Aug. 24, 2001

Columbia, Mo. - College basketball analyst Dick Vitale acknowledged today what Missouri fans know to be true -- Missouri's Kareem Rush is one of the top players in the nation.

Rush was named a pre-season first team All-American by Vitale on his ESPN.com webpage. Vitale had this to say about MU's junior forward:

"Rush came on strong for Quin Snyder last season. He learned to control his game and gained knowledge of shot selection. Rush has supreme confidence in his ability and a knack for getting free and making the big shot. He can convert in the lane, drive to the basket, square up, knock it down from the perimeter and hit the trifecta."

The honor is a great start to the season for Rush, who will look to become MU's first All-American since Melvin Booker in 1994. Rush led the Big 12 Conference in scoring last season, at 21.1 points per game, and played brilliantly in the postseason, as he had games of 31 and 29 points, respectively, against Oklahoma (Big 12 Tournament) and Duke (NCAA Tournament), despite playing with a cumbersome cast on his shooting hand for a thumb injury that forced him to miss seven games late in the year.

Rush was joined on Vitale's first team by Jason Williams of Duke, Casey Jacobsen of Stanford, Reggie Evans of Iowa and Lonny Baxter of Maryland.

Rush was named to Playboy Magazine's 2001-02 All-American Team earlier this summer.