Hopkins and Johnson Named All-Sun Belt

[mgsteve]

Hopkins and Johnson Named All-Sun Belt

DENTON ( 3/4/04 ) – North Texas men’s basketball standouts Leonard Hopkins and Shawnson Johnson have been named to the All-Sun Belt Conference Team, released Thursday by the league office.

Hopkins, a junior guard, makes his first appearance to the postseason squad as a Second Team selection. The Dallas, Tex., native led the Mean Green in scoring this season with 13.5 points per game and was ranked 10th in the Sun Belt in scoring. His 16.9 points per game against Sun Belt opponents only was the fourth highest in the conference.

Hopkins posted an .827 free throw percentage, which was the fifth highest in the league. He scored in double figures a team-best 18 times, including five 20-point games. He led the Mean Green in scoring 10 times during the season and scored a career-high 25 points in three different games.

A senior transfer, Johnson was named to the third team after averaging 11.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game. Johnson enrolled at North Texas in January of 2003 and practiced with the team the remainder of the season, but due to NCAA transferring rules wasn’t eligible to compete in a game until the end of the fall semester.

In just 22 games in a North Texas uniform, Johnson broke the school-record for single-season blocks with 61. He is the only player in school history to block five or more shots in three different games. His 61 blocks also ranks third on the career blocks list at NT.

Johnson recorded a team-best four double-doubles this season and was no more than two rebounds or one point shy of having seven more. He led the Mean Green in rebounds 14 games and in blocks 18.

The Mean Green will play New Orleans in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament on Sunday at 8 p.m. in Bowling Green , Kentucky .

ALL-SUN BELT CONFERENCE

FIRST TEAM CLASS POS. SCHOOL

Nigel Dixon Sr. C Western Kentucky

Tommy Gunn Sr G Middle Tennessee

J.J. Montgomery Jr. G Arkansas State

James Moore Sr. F New Mexico State

Mike Wells Sr. G Western Kentucky

SECOND TEAM

Erik Benzel Sr. G Denver

Laurie Bridges Sr. G Louisiana-Lafayette

Mike Dean Jr. G Middle Tennessee

Leonard Hopkins Jr. G North Texas

Dewarick Spencer Jr. G Arkansas State

THIRD TEAM

Brandon Freeman Jr. G Arkansas-Little Rock

Brian Hamilton Jr. F Louisiana-Lafayette

Shawnson Johnson Sr. F North Texas

Antoine Landry Sr. G Louisiana-Lafayette

Bo McCalebb Fr. G New Orleans

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Mike Wells, WKU

DEF. PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Mike Wells, WKU

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Bo McCalebb, UNO

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Nigel Dixon, WKU

COACH OF THE YEAR: Steve Shields, UALR

[MeanGreenBuzz]

SoJo should have atleast been 2nd team...

[Guest e-bone]

SoJo should have atleast been 2nd team...

I'm happy with him getting third team. He really fell off after a hot start and I wasn't sure he would make an all conference team. I think Leonard should have gotten first team though.

[MeanGreenBuzz]

Leonard really should have as hot as he was down the stretch, but his OOC numbers really hurt him. We all know he was playing injured, but I am not sure that is taken into consideration in making the selections.

mXc rocks!