Eddie Basden, All-Conference and double POY

CONGRATULATIONS EDDIE! Hard work does pay off.

C-USA Announces Men's Basketball All-Conference Squads, 3/7/05, ConferenceUSA.com

For the second straight season, Marquette senior Travis Diener, Louisville junior Francisco Garcia and Charlotte junior Curtis Withers find their names among the five players named to the 2005 All-Conference USA First Team. The trio are joined this season by seniors Eddie Basden of Charlotte and Quemont Greer of DePaul, who each earned the first all-conference accolades of their respective careers. The awards are voted on by the league’s coaches and media.

Diener secured his fourth all-conference honor this season, despite being sidelined for the last three games of the regular season with a broken hand. The sharp-shooting guard led the league in scoring with a 19.7 ppg average and finished his career ranked eighth on the league’s all-time scoring chart with 1,691 career points. Diener earned his second first-team honor after being named to the second team in 2003 and the all-freshman team in 2002.

Garcia and Withers have collected identical honors in their first three seasons in the league. Both players earned all-freshman team honors in 2003 to go with their pair of first-team honors. Garcia led Louisville to the school’s first ever C-USA regular season championship after averaging a team-leading 15.3 points and 4.0 assists.

Withers and Basden gave the league a pair of teammates on the first team for the second-consecutive year. Memphis had a pair of players on the first team last season as well as in 2002. Withers led Charlotte in scoring and was fifth in the league at 17.5 ppg. His 19.1 ppg in conference games was a league best.

Basden was one of the league’s top all-around players ranking in the Top 10 in points (10th, 15.3), rebounds (5th, 8.5), assists (10th, 3.6) and steals (1st, 3.3), while sharing league-high honors with three C-USA Player of the Week awards. The Washington, D.C., native shared that honor with Greer, who led DePaul in scoring (18.3) and rebounding (7.2) this season. Greer’s scoring average was second in the league as he surpassed the 1,000-point total for his career this season.

Five different teams were represented on the second team led by a quartet of seniors. Cincinnati forward Jason Maxiell was the only repeat member from the 2004 second team. The fourth-year Bearcat is joined on the squad by fellow seniors Andre Owens of Houston, Terrence Leather of USF and Donell Taylor of UAB. The only non-senior on the second team is Memphis junior Rodney Carney. Leather was a third-team member in 2004.

The third-team features the only underclassmen to be named all-conference as Memphis point guard Darius Washington, Jr., landed a spot on the squad. Louisville, DePaul, and Cincinnati each had their second player named to third team. Garcia’s backcourt mate Taquan Dean also represents the Cardinals. DePaul’s Drake Diener, who is the cousin of first-teamer Travis Diener, gives his family a pair of all-conference honorees.

Eric Hicks gives the Bearcats a pair of forwards on the all-league squads with his selection to the third-team. TCU point guard Corey Santee earned third-team honors for the second-consecutive season.

Ten teams were represented with at least one player on the all-conference teams, with five teams having two honorees and five others having just one representative. The forwards edged out the guards with an eight to seven ratio.

2004-05 C-USA MEN’S BASKETBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS
2004-05 ALL-CONFERENCE USA FIRST TEAM
Eddie Basden, Charlotte, G/F, 6-5, 215, Sr., Washington, D.C. (Eleanor Roosevelt)
Travis Diener, Marquette, G, 6-0, 165, Sr., Fond du Lac, Wis. (Goodrich)
Francisco Garcia, Louisville, F, 6-7, 185, Jr., Bronx, N.Y. (Winchendon)
Quemont Greer, DePaul, F, 6-7, 240, Sr., Milwaukee, Wisc. (Berkshire Academy)
Curtis Withers, Charlotte, F, 6-8, 230, Jr., Charlotte, N.C. (West Charlotte)

2004-05 ALL-CONFERENCE USA SECOND TEAM
Rodney Carney, Memphis, F, 6-7, 205, Jr., Indianapolis, Ind. (Northwest)
Terrence Leather, USF, F, 6-9, 221, Sr., Tampa, Fla. (Robinson)
Jason Maxiell, Cincinnati, F, 6-7, 240, Sr., Carrollton, Texas (Newman Smith)
Andre Owens, Houston, G, 6-4, 200, Sr., Indianapolis, Ind. (Indiana)
Donell Taylor, UAB, G, 6-6, 180, Sr., Montgomery, Ala. (Okaloosa-Walton)

2004-05 ALL-CONFERENCE USA THIRD TEAM
Taquan Dean, Louisville, G, 6-3, 185, Jr., Red Bank, N.J. (Neptune)
Drake Diener, DePaul, G, 6-5, 200, Sr., Fond du Lac, Wis. (Goodrich)
Eric Hicks, Cincinnati, F, 6-6, 240, Jr., Greensboro, N.C. (Dudley)
Corey Santee, TCU, G, 6-2, 193, Sr., Flint, Mich. (Maine Central)
Darius Washington, Jr., Memphis, G, 6-2, 185, Fr., Orlando, Fla. (Edgewater)

 

Basden, Taylor and Washington, Jr. Garner Men's Basketball Awards, 3/8/05, ConferenceUSA.com

Charlotte senior swingman Eddie Basden was chosen as the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year for the second-consecutive season, the league office announced on Tuesday. UAB senior guard Ronell Taylor was tabbed as the conference’s Sixth Player of the Year, while Memphis guard Darius Washington Jr. collected C-USA Freshman of the Year and All-Freshman team honors.

Washington Jr. is joined on the all-freshman unit by teammate Joey Dorsey, Louisville forward Juan Palacios, Tulane guard Taylor Rochestie and East Carolina forward Tom Hammonds, IV.

Basden is the first league player to earn back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year honors since former Cincinnati standout Kenyon Martin received the accolade three straight seasons from 1998-2000. The senior holds the C-USA record for career steals with 260 and his 89 thefts this season are the third most in league history. Basden also led the 49ers in rebounds with 8.4 rpg.

Taylor becomes the first UAB player to earn an individual award since Willie Mitchell secured the same honor following the 1998-99 season. The senior was third on the Blazers in scoring with a 12.3 ppg average. Taylor shot 47.5 percent from the field and averaged more than 20 minutes played per contest.

Washington Jr. is the third Memphis Tiger to earn C-USA’s Freshman of the Year honor in the last four seasons. The point guard led all league freshmen with a 15.6 ppg average and also dished out 3.4 assists per game. The Orlando, Fla., native was named to the Rivals.com National Freshman All-America first team earlier this week and also earned Dick Vitale’s “Diaper Dandy of the Week” honor last month.

Washington Jr. and Dorsey are the first teammates to earn all-freshman honors in the same season since 2005 All-Conference selections Taquan Dean and Francisco Garcia of Louisville were named to the 2003 squad. Dorsey led all freshmen with a 6.7 rebounds per game average, while Palacios was second with a 6.2 average. Rochestie, who started 23 games and averaged more than 10 ppg, is the first Green Wave player to be named all-freshman since Byron Mouton (1998). Rochestie also was the top freshman playmaker, finishing the regular season with a league-best 3.56 assists per game. Hammonds netted an average eight points per game for the Pirates and joined current ECU teammates Mike Cook (2004) and Moussa Badiane (2002) to have earned the All-Freshman distinction.

2004-05 CONFERENCE USA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Eddie Basden, Charlotte, G/F, 6-5, 215, Sr., Washington D.C./Eleanor Roosevelt

2004-05 CONFERENCE USA SIXTH PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Ronell Taylor, UAB, G, 6-5, 180, Sr., Montgomery, Ala./Okaloosa-Walton

2004-05 CONFERENCE USA FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Darius Washington, Jr., Memphis, G, 6-2, 185, Fr., Orlando, Fla./Edgewater

2004-05 CONFERENCE USA ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Joey Dorsey, Memphis, F, 6-9, 260, Baltimore, Md./Laurinburg Prep
Tom Hammonds, IV, East Carolina, G, 6-4, 200, Crestview, Fla./Montrose Christian
Juan Palacios, F, Louisville, 6-8, 245, Medellin, Columbia/Our Savior New American
Taylor Rochestie, G, Tulane, 6-1, 175, Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara
Darius Washington, Jr., Memphis, G, 6-2, 185, Fr., Orlando, Fla./Edgewater

 

Basden and Pitino Earn C-USA Player and Coach of the Year Honors, 3/9/05, ConferenceUSA.com

Charlotte senior swingman Eddie Basden added the Conference USA Player of the Year award to his growing list of postseason recognition in an announcement made by the league office on Wednesday. Basden, who was named to the All-C-USA first team and the league’s Defensive Player of the Year earlier this week, is the first 49er to earn a pair of individual awards in the same season.

Louisville’s Rick Pitino was named the Ray Meyer Coach of the Year after directing the Cardinals to their first C-USA regular season championship. The No. 6 Cardinals enter the C-USA Tournament ranked sixth in the country and as the top-seed. U of L will open play Thursday against the Marquette-TCU winner at 1 p.m. EST.

This is the fourth time that Pitino has been honored as a conference Coach of the Year, having earned the SEC’s top coaching accolade in 1990, 1991 and 1996. He has been recognized as a National Coach of the Year three times and ranks among the 10 winningest active NCAA Division I men’s basketball coaches by percentage.

The two-time Defensive Player of the Year honoree stepped up his all-around game this season to lead the 49ers to a second-place regular season finish. The senior ranked in the Top 10 in the league in points (10th, 15.3 ppg), rebounds (5th, 8.5 rpg), assists (10th, 3.6 apg) and steals (1st, 3.3 spg).

During a seven-game winning streak through the month of February, Basden earned a trio of C-USA Player of the Week honors as Charlotte swept the weekly awards that month. The Washington, D.C., native is just the second 49er to earn C-USA Player of the Year honors joining former 49er great DeMarco Johnson, who was named to the Conference USA All-Decade team earlier in the week.

The Ray Meyer Coach of the Year Award is selected by the conference coaches and is presented by the Birmingham Tip-Off Club.