Aug. 14, 2002

Columbia, Mo.- University of Missouri junior forward Rickey Paulding continued to rack up accolades on Wednesday as he was named to the preseason All-Big 12 first team by Athlon Sports. Paulding also was included in the finalist pool of 50 for the John R. Wooden award earlier this month and will be featured on the regional cover of Athlon Sports Men's Basketball Preview Edition.

After having a solid campaign his freshman season, the 6-5 Paulding had a breakout year last season averaging 11.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per contest. Paulding established himself as one of college basketball's young stars, particularly in the NCAA Tournament last March. He was the Tiger's leading scorer during their Elite Eight run and was named to the All-West Region team in the Tournament

Fellow junior and center Arthur Johnson also earned a nod from the publication garnering All-Big 12 third team honors after averaging 12.2 points and 7.9 rebounds during the 2001-02 campaign. Johnson led the Tigers in blocks (71) last season and received All-Big 12 Defensive and Honorable Mention All-Big 12 honors.

Nationally renown as a high-quality prognostication publication, Athlon picked the Tigers to finish fourth in the Big 12 and ranked the 2002-03 recruiting class of Jimmy McKinney, Kevin Young and Ricky Clemons as the fourth best class in the conference in its preseason rankings.