April 22, 2002

Columbia, Mo. - The University of Missouri men's basketball team celebrated a season of accomplishment with its season awards finale, held tonight at the Columbia Performing Arts Center.

Under third-year Head Coach Quin Snyder, the Tigers went 24-12, and reached the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament for just the third time in school history, before being knocked out by rival Oklahoma, 81-75 in San Jose, Calif.

Here's a recap of the awards handed out at the ceremonies:

The Joyce A. Walls Memorial Award for Most Outstanding Player went to junior guard/forward Kareem Rush. Rush, who earned honorable mention All-American status, led the Tigers in scoring (19.8 ppg), and became just the fifth Tiger to ever score 700 or more points in a season (712).

The Wilbur "Sparky" Stalcup Award for most inspirational player went to senior guard Clarence Gilbert. Gilbert averaged 17.0 points per game and selflessly switched from shooting guard to point guard midway through the season. He ended his Tiger career in the top-10 in points, assists, steals and is also MU's alltime three-point field goal leader, with 332. Gilbert also earned the Coaches' Award, which represents a combination of leadership, desire, commitment, and teamwork among intangibles.

The George R. Edwards Award for academic ability went to sophomore Rickey Paulding, while sophomore Josh Kroenke was the winner of the Michael F. Alden Award, which goes to the reserve who contributes the most for team morale.

The Most Improved Player Award went to sophomore forward Travon Bryant. Bryant averaged 6.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, and came on strong at the end of the season, as he played a key part in MU's NCAA Tournament run. Bryant led Mizzou in rebounding during the Tournament, at 8.3 rebounds per game.

Other awards included the Best Defensive Player Award, which went to Clarence Gilbert, while senior manager Drew Green was honored, as well.