Feb. 12, 2002

University of Missouri men's basketball forward Kareem Rush has been named one of 20 finalists for the annual Naismith Award, as announced today by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.

The prestigious honor, given annually to the top player in college basketball, will be awarded in Atlanta, Ga., on Friday, April 5, 2002.

Rush is currently second in the Big 12 with a scoring average of 20.1 points per game, and is coming on strong of late, as he's averaged 27.3 points per game in MU's last three outings. Prior to the season, the Kansas City, Mo. native was named a first-team pre-season All-American by the Associated Press - the first Tiger to achieve such acclaim.

The finalists for the men's award are as follows:

?KAREEM RUSH, MU

?Lonny Baxter, Maryland

?Troy Bell, Boston College

?Carlos Boozer, Duke

?Caron Butler, Connecticut

?Sam Clancy, USC

?Nick Collison, Kansas

?Dan Dickau, Gonzaga

?Juan Dixon, Maryland

?Mike Dunleavy, Duke

?Jason Gardner, Arizona

?Drew Gooden, Kansas

?Casey Jacobsen, Stanford

?Jared Jeffries, Indiana

?Jason Kapono, UCLA

?Steve Logan, Cincinnati

?Tayshaun Prince, Kentucky

?Frank Williams, Illinois

?Jason Williams, Duke

?David West, Xavier

The Naismith Awards program, now in its 34th 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 excellence in basketball for student-athletes. The Naismith Board of Selectors includes some of the country's leading basketball coaches, journalists and administrators.