Nov. 12, 2003

Columbia, Mo. - The preseason honors continue to roll in for University of Missouri guard Rickey Paulding. Already a nominee for the John R. Wooden and Naismith Awards, Paulding was named to the Associated Press' preseason All-American team on Wednesday. He joins Emeka Okafor (Connecticut), Jameer Nelson (Saint Joseph's), Ike Diogu (Arizona State) and Raymond Felton (North Carolina) on the team, which is made up of three seniors and two sophomores.

"This is a great honor for Rickey and I think its an indicator of where he is at as a competitor," head coach Quin Snyder. "His dedication to becoming a complete player has been remarkable and his quiet focus and leadership have been a steadying force for our team over the past three years."

Paulding becomes the second Tiger to earn the preseason All-American moniker since the formation of the Big 12. Prior to the 2001-02 season, Kareem Rush earned the second-most votes behind Duke's Jayson Williams in the voting for pre-season All-American honors.

Paulding will now set his sights on becoming Mizzou's first All-American since Melvin Booker in 1994. He has started all three years at Mizzou. He led the squad in scoring last year, dumping in 17.4 points per contest. He ranks 23rd on the Mizzou All-Time scoring list (1,220 points) and is the Tiger's all-time leading scorer in NCAA Tournament competition, averaging 18.1 points per game in eight contests played, which is also a Mizzou record.

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