Murray State University Athletics
Victor Named All-American Honorable Mention By Associated Press
3/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Murray State senior forward Cuthbert Victor was named All-American Honorable Mention for 2003-04 today by the Associated Press, becoming the first Racer player to receive the honor since Marcus Brown in 1995-96.
Victor, a 6-5 native of St. Croix, Virgin Islands, led MSU (28-6) to the program's 12th NCAA Tournament appearance last week after the Racers won the 2004 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament on March 6 in Nashville, Tenn.
Today's honor is the just the latest for Victor, who averaged 14.6 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, as he earned the 2003-04 OVC Player of the Year Award and was the 2004 OVC Tournament MVP. He was also named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches' All-District Team for 2003-04.
"Cuffy earned this honor with what he brought to the floor all season long," said MSU first-year head coach Mick Cronin. "He's been such an important part of this basketball program for the last four seasons, and I truly consider it an honor to have had the opportunity to coach him."
Despite matching up with players much taller than him throughout the season, Victor still ranked in the top 10 nationally in rebounding and field-goal percentage in 2003-04 while leading the Racers in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots. He also became MSU's all-time leader in blocked shots earlier this season and finished his brilliant career with 160 career swats.
"He's a guy that was always more concerned with what our team did and whether we won or lost than what his stats were," Cronin said. "I know this honor won't be that big to him because he's just not worried about individual success, but this is a great honor. He joins some pretty good company with this award."
Victor, who had 13 double-doubles this season and finished with 29 for his career, becomes the third MSU player to earn All-American Honorable Mention since 1991, joining former Racer greats Popeye Jones (1990-91, 1991-92) and Marcus Brown (1995-96) in a very select group.
He's also the only OVC player to receive the honor in 2003-04 and joins Kentucky's Erik Daniels and Gerald Fitch, Louisville's Francisco Garcia and Western Kentucky's Mike Wells as the only players from the commonwealth of Kentucky to make the list.
2003-04 AP All-America Basketball Team
FIRST TEAM
Jameer Nelson, Saint Joseph's
Emeka Okafor, Connecticut
Lawrence Roberts, Mississippi State
Josh Childress, Stanford
Ryan Gomes, Providence
SECOND TEAM
Devin Harris, Wisconsin
Julius Hodge, North Carolina State
Luke Jackson, Oregon
Andre Emmett, Texas Tech
Blake Stepp, Gonzaga
THIRD TEAM
Chris Duhon, Duke
John Lucas, Oklahoma State
Hakim Warrick, Syracuse
Rashad McCants, North Carolina
Wayne Simien, Kansas
HONORABLE MENTION
(In alphabetical order)
Tony Allen, Oklahoma State; Rafael Araujo, BYU; Andre Barrett, Seton Hall; Odell Bradley, IUPUI; Darren Brooks, Southern Illinois; Dee Brown, Illinois; Antonio Burks, Memphis; Taylor Coppenrath, Vermont; Erik Daniels, Kentucky; Miah Davis, Pacific; Paul Davis, Michigan State; Greg Davis, Troy State; Luol Deng, Duke; Ike Diogu, Arizona State; B.J. Elder, Georgia Tech; Gerald Fitch, Kentucky; Luis Flores, Manhattan; Jason Forte, Brown; Matt Freije, Vanderbilt; Francisco Garcia, Louisville; Danny Gathings, High Point; Ben Gordon, Connecticut; David Harrison, Colorado; David Hawkins, Temple; Kris Humphries, Minnesota; LeRoy Hurd, Texas-San Antonio; Andre Iguodala, Arizona; Arthur Johnson, Missouri; Domonic Jones, Virginia Commonwealth; Carl Krauser, Pittsburgh; Jaime Lloreda, LSU; Bryant Matthews, Virginia Tech; Sean May, North Carolina; Attarrius Norwood, Mississippi Valley State; Dylan Page, Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Chris Paul, Wake Forest; Tim Pickett, Florida State; J.J. Redick, Duke; Anthony Roberson, Florida; Ron Robinson, Central Connecticut State; Austen Rowland, Lehigh; Romain Sato, Xavier; Alvin Snow, Eastern Washington; Kirk Snyder, Nevada; Chris Thomas, Notre Dame; Ronny Turiaf, Gonzaga; Cuthbert Victor, Murray State; Zakee Wadood, East Tennessee State; Nick Welch, Air Force; Mike Wells, Western Kentucky; Delonte West, Saint Joseph's; Mike Williams, Western Michigan; Shelden Williams, Duke; Thurman Zimmerman, South Carolina State.
