Paul McCoy Named Finalist For Oregon's 2008 Carpenter Award

[PonyPride]

Paul McCoy Named Finalist For Oregon's 2008 Johnny Carpenter Prep Athlete-Of-The-Year
Winner Announced Feb. 8

Jan. 16, 2009

BEAVERTON, Ore. (SMU) - SMU freshman Paul McCoy is a finalist for Oregon's Johnny Carpenter Prep Athlete of the Year Award, as selected by a 78-member, statewide panel of voters. The winner will be announced at the 57th annual Oregon Sports Awards on Sunday, Feb. 8, at the Tiger Woods Center on the Nike World Campus.

McCoy is one of ten finalists for the award which is presented based upon the calendar year 2008. Current Minnesota Timberwolves' forward Kevin Love has earned the honor the last three years (2005-07) for his accomplishments in basketball at Lake Oswego High School in Lake Owego, Ore.

Ahmad Rashad, an Emmy award-winning broadcaster and former football star at the University of Oregon and in the NFL, will be the broadcast host for the third consecutive year. Bill Schonely, the Portland Trail Blazers' founding broadcaster/ambassador, is the event's ambassador and host. Sports celebrities from Oregon's past and present will be on hand to present the awards.

McCoy was a two-time first-team all-state selection in Oregon for coach Tony Broadus while leading Grant High School in Portland to the 6A (large-class) state title. He averaged 16.5 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals as a senior. He was also a first-team all-state selection in football as a defensive back and is the first player in ten years to earn All-State honors in both sports in class 6A in Oregon. McCoy was also a wide receiver on Grant's football team, which is the same high school that produced current SMU football head coach June Jones. McCoy was also a member of two state championship relay teams in track; winning the 2007 state championship in the 4x100 meter relay team and the 2008 state title in the 4x400 relay team.

At SMU, McCoy is leading the team at 13.7 points per game. That includes a 32 point performance on Dec. 31 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, becoming the third SMU freshman to score 30 points in a game. He is 14th in Conference USA in scoring, seventh in field goal percentage (49.0), and 3rd in steals (2.29). Among C-USA freshmen, he is 1st in shooting percentage, second in scoring, second in steals, and first in minutes at 34.14. Through Jan. 11, he was 45th in the NCAA in steals and 88th in field goal percentage. He took C-USA Rookie of the Week for Nov. 17-23 when he averaged 17.0 points, 3.3 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.3 steals with just four total turnovers to make the All-Tournament Team of the SMU Tip-Off Classic. In November, he was named by The Sporting News as one of the "Top freshman you may not know." On January 7, he was selected as the nation's No. 12 freshman by Basketball Prospectus.

Comcast SportsNet will air the Oregon Sports Awards at 8 p.m. on Feb. 9. The show will be replayed on Feb. 10 at 10 p.m., Feb. 13 at 10 p.m., Feb. 24 at 7 p.m., Feb. 25 at 9 a.m. and March 1 at 9 p.m., and it will be available via ON DEMAND starting Feb. 14. For ticket information, call 503-721-7477, ext. 12, or e-mail [email protected]. The event is sponsored by Nike Inc., the Portland Tribune, Comcast SportsNet, Les Schwab Tire Centers, Jeld-Wen Windows & Doors, the Portland Trail Blazers, [deleted]'s Sporting Goods, Portland's Vital Signs and SportsOne Inc.

Johnny Carpenter Prep Athlete of the Year (men) finalists:
Jordan Bishop, West Salem track and field, basketball, football;
Tony Gonzalez, McKay wrestling, track and field, football;
Elijah Greer, Lake Oswego cross country, track and field;
Jack Lomax, Lake Oswego football;
Paul McCoy, Grant basketball, track and field;
Tym Pearson, Thurston track and field, football;
R.J. Pena, Sprague wrestling;
Jordan Poyer, Astoria baseball, football;
Garrett Sim, Sunset basketball, track and field;
Brad Tinsley, Oregon City basketball

Recent winners - Kevin Love (2007), Kevin Love (2006), Kevin Love and Joey Wong (2005), Galen Rupp (2004), Tommy Skipper (2003), Jordan Kent (2002), Jordan Kent (2001)

[The XtC]

Congrats to Paul. I saw another interesting name on the list of candidates, Jack Lomax is Neal Lomax's son, and heplayed QB in football, and was also an excellent basketball player.