Oct. 22, 2003
Columbia, Mo.- The University of Missouri men's basketball squad was selected to win the Big 12 Conference today in the Big 12 Men's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Poll, the Big 12 office announced today. This marks the highest the Tigers have ever been selected in the coaches' preseason poll. In 2001-02, the Tigers were selected second and have never been selected below fifth according to the coaches.
Mizzou received eight of a possible eleven first place votes (coaches could not vote for their own team or players) in the poll followed by Texas with three votes and Kansas with one first place vote. Last year, the Tigers were picked to finish fourth in the league by the Big 12 Coaches and finished in fifth.
Three Tigers players also received individual recognition heading into the 2003-04 season. Seniors Rickey Paulding and Arthur Johnson, who both earned second team All-Big 12 honors last season, were named to the Preseason Coaches All-Big 12 Team. They are the first Tigers to earn the distinction since preseason 2001-02 when junior-to-be Kareem Rush was tabbed with the honor. Junior Jason Conley also garnered preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year honors on Wednesday.
Paulding, who has been named to several preseason All-America teams by a variety of publications, is the Big 12's second leading returning scorer as he averaged 17.4 points per contest last year. Johnson is already Mizzou's all-time leading shot blocker with 197 career swats and can become the Tigers' all-time leading rebounder with just 194 more caroms. The dynamic duo from Detroit rank 22nd (Johnson with 1,268 points) and 23rd (Paulding 1,220 points) respectively in career scoring at Mizzou and have a good chance to move into the top five this season.
A transfer from Virginia Military Institute, Conley became the first freshman to lead the country in scoring as a freshman during the 2001-02 season when he averaged 29.5 points per contest. Last season, he averaged just over 22 points per contest at VMI before transferring to Mizzou in January. He will be eligible to compete for the Tigers following the first semester when the Tigers take on UNC-Greensboro on Dec. 21.
Other Tigers that received mentions in the preseason awards include junior guard Randy Pulley, who received votes for Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year while freshman forward Linas Kleiza received votes for Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year.
The coaches' poll reflects directly on the six Big 12 schools, which advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2003. The media preseason poll will be conducted in conjunction with the Big 12 Basketball Media Day on Oct. 30 at the Renaissance Dallas.
This weekend, the Tigers will be in action in the annual Black and Gold game, which will be played one hour following the Tiger's football contest with Texas Tech, which kicks off at 11:30 a.m. Tickets are still available for the football game as well as the Black and Gold Basketball game. Tickets for the Black and Gold are $5. For more information on Mizzou men's basketball, log on to the home of Mizzou Athletics on the web, www.mutigers.com.
Here's a quick look at MU's Big 12 history in the coaches' pre-season poll:
Year Predicted Finish 1996-97 No Preseason poll 10th 1997-98 4th T-5th 1998-99 3rd T-2nd 1999-00 5th 6th 2000-01 3rd 6th 2001-02 2nd 6th 2002-03 4th 5th
2003-04 Big 12 Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll Team (first place votes) Points 1. Missouri (8) 114 2. Texas (3) 108 3. Kansas (1) 106 4. Oklahoma 92 5. Oklahoma State 81 6. Colorado 71 7. Texas Tech 64 8. Kansas State 48 9. Texas A&M 41 10. Iowa State 33 11. Nebraska 23 12. Baylor 11
Note: Points were awarded 11 for first, 10 for second, nine for third, etc. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.
2003-04 Preseason Coaches All-Big 12 Team (Coaches were not able to vote for their own team.) Name, School Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl-Exp Ppg Rpg Hometown (Previous school) Andre Emmett, Texas Tech G 6-5 229 Sr-3L 21.8 6.6 Dallas, Texas (Carter HS) Arthur Johnson, Missouri C 6-9 268 Sr-3L 16.1 9.6 Detroit, Mich. (Pershing HS) Rickey Paulding, Missouri G 6-5 218 Sr-3L 17.4 5.5 Detroit, Mich. (Renaissance HS) Wayne Simien, Kansas F 6-9 255 Jr-2L 14.8 8.2 Leavenworth, Kan. (Leavenworth HS) James Thomas, Texas C 6-8 235 Sr-3L 11.1 11.0 Schenectady, N.Y. (Hargrave [Va.] Academy)
Others receiving votes - Tony Allen, Sr., G, Oklahoma State; David Harrison, Jr., C, Colorado; Keith Langford, Jr., G, Kansas; Michel Morandais, Sr., G.F, Colorado; Brandon Mouton, Sr., G, Texas; Antoine Wright, So., F/G, Texas A&M
Preseason Player of the Year - Andre Emmett (G/F, 6-5, Sr., Dallas, Texas, Carter HS) Preseason Newcomer of the Year - Jason Conley (G, 6-5, Jr., Silver Springs, Md., VMI) Co-Preseason Freshman of the Year - David Padgett (C, 6-11, Fr., Reno, Nev., Reno HS); Drew Lavender (G, 5-7, Fr., Columbus, Ohio, Brookhaven HS)