Nov. 19, 2002

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - As the 2002-03 college basketball season gets underway, the list of candidates for the second annual Senior CLASS Award have been selected, including Maryland point guard Steve Blake.

The award is presented annually to the nation's senior player-of-the-year for NCAA Division I men's and women's basketball. The inaugural award winners were Juan Dixon of Maryland and Sue Bird of Connecticut.

The "Players to Watch" on the men's side include representatives from 15 different conferences, nine of which have multiple players on the list.

The formation of the Senior CLASS Award - an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School - was announced during last season's college basketball season. The CLASS Award was developed in response to the recent trend of college basketball players leaving college early to turn professional.

Selection criteria is based on a number of factors, the most important being that the recipient must have exhausted their four years of eligibility and have fulfilled their commitment to their respective university. In addition, the recipient must be working toward their degree, be in good academic standing and be of sound moral character.

The performances of the "Players to Watch" for both men and women will be tracked during the season. From that pool of players, a national committee of sportscasters and sportswriters who cover college basketball on the Division I level will select 10 Finalists.

The names of these Finalists will appear on the official ballot during the national voting process in March. The selection of the men's and women's award winner will be based on the cumulative ballots of the national media committee and Division I college basketball coaches. The winner will be announced during the respective NCAA Final Four events in March.

"The inaugural year of the Senior CLASS Award came together with a storybook ending, as both winners led their team to the national championship," said Gary Heise, President of Premier Sports Management, the company responsible for the overall administration of the award. "With Juan Dixon and Sue Bird having already set a high benchmark, we are very impressed with the candidates for year two. Senior players are dominating the preseason All-American teams and it will be an intriguing race in the balloting for the 2002-03 award winners."

The 2003 Men's Senior CLASS Award "Players to Watch"

Marcus Bailey University of Wyoming Troy Bell Boston College Steve Blake University of Maryland Brett Blizzard UNC-Wilmington Keith Bogans University of Kentucky Matt Bonner University of Florida Nick Collison University of Kansas Brian Cook University of Illinois Tom Coverdale Indiana University Willie Deane Purdue University Henry Domercant Eastern Illinois University Erwin Dudley University of Alabama Ronald Dupree Louisiana State University Ebi Ere University of Oklahoma Reece Gaines University of Louisville Jason Gardner University of Arizona Marcus Hatten St. John's University Kirk Hinrich University of Kansas Josh Howard Wake Forest University Brandon Hunter Ohio University Britton Johnsen University of Utah Dahntay Jones Duke University Jason Kapono UCLA Brandin Knight University of Pittsburgh Kyle Korver Creighton University Chris Marcus Western Kentucky University Brett Nelson University of Florida Kirk Penney University of Wisconsin Hollis Price University of Oklahoma Hector Romero University of New Orleans Ron Slay University of Tennessee Theron Smith Ball State University Darrell Tucker University of San Francisco Luke Walton University of Arizona Travis Watson University of Virginia David West Xavier University