Murray State University Athletics
Victor Named OVC Player Of The Year; Shumate Second Team All-OVC
3/4/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Murray State senior forward Cuthbert Victor was named the 2003-04 Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year today, becoming the 11th MSU player to win the honor and the first since Aubrey Reese in 1999-2000. It is the 15th time overall that a Racer player has received the conference's highest individual honor.
Victor, a First-Team All-OVC selection, is joined on the All-OVC squad by MSU senior swingman Chris Shumate, who was selected Second Team All-OVC by the conference's head coaches and sports information directors. The individual and team award winners were announced during a reception tonight at the DoubleTree Hotel in Nashville in conjunction with the 2004 OVC Tournament, which resumes with the men's and women's semifinals on Friday at Municipal Auditorium.
Victor, a 6-5 native of the Virgin Islands, ranked in the top 10 in the OVC in seven of 12 statistical categories and led the conference in rebounding (10.4 rpg), offensive rebounds (3.97 rpg) and defensive rebounding (6.42 rpg). He was second in the league in field-goal percentage (62.5%) and blocked shots (1.74) and was named OVC Player of the Week a league-high four times. He has also consistently ranked in the top 10 nationally in field goal percentage and rebounding throughout the season for the Racers, who play Morehead State on Friday at 8 p.m. in the second of two semifinal games in Nashville.
"I'm so proud for Cuffy (Cuthbert) because he's a great young man and such an important part of this team,"said first-year MSU head coach Mick Cronin. "He's such a good worker and such an unselfish player that some of the things he does for us goes unnoticed at times. He's very, very deserving of this honor, and I've truly enjoyed having the opportunity to coach him this season."
The 21-year-old Victor has 13 double-doubles this season, including seven against OVC foes, and 29 for his career. On Jan. 15, he became MSU's all-time leader in blocked shots. On Feb. 20, Victor was the only OVC player named to the NABC District 7 First Team for 2003-04, joining Francisco Garcia of Louisville, Erik Daniels and Gerald Fitch of Kentucky and Matt Freije of Vanderbilt.
Shumate, a 6-6 native of Louisville, Ky., has emerged as one of the league's most dangerous offensive weapons this season, averaging 11.8 points per game while shooting 49.8 percent from the field. He is second in the OVC in three-point shooting at 44.9 percent and was one of the Racers' most consistent as they marched to a 25-5 regular-season mark.
"Chris has been very instrumental in our success this year," Cronin said. "He's been one of those great senior leaders that you must have to succeed, and I'm really happy for him because he's worked hard to receive an honor like this."
Joining Victor on the First Team was Adrian Henning of Austin Peay, Ricky Minard of Morehead State, Willie Jenkins of Tennessee Tech and Josh Lewis of Austin Peay. The Second Team was comprised of Shumate, Matt Witt and Jon Bentley of Eastern Kentucky, Chez Marks of Morehead State and Bruce Price of Tennessee State. The Third Team featured Phillip Ramelli of Samford, Anthony Davis of Austin Peay, Cameron Crisp of Tennessee Tech, Jared Newson of Tennessee-Martin and Trent Eager of Jacksonville State.
Austin Peay's Dave Loos was named Coach of the Year, Tech's Willie Jenkins was Newcomer of the Year and TSU's Bruce Price was Freshman of the Year.
