April 13, 2005
NORFOLK, VA--The annual ODU Hoops club Big Blue Barbeque moves to campus this year on Thursday, May 5th at the Constant Convocation Center 5-8 p.m. Come join the Monarch team and coaching staff for an evening of good fun inCelebration of ODU's 28-6 championship season. The Monarchs captured the CAA title and made the school's first NCAA tournament appearance since 1997.
Head coach Blaine Taylor, the CAA and Virginia Coach of The Year will present the following special awards. "The Paul Webb Best Represents ODU Award,""Team MVP," "The Cal Bowdler Most Improved Award," and the "Mark West Best Defensive Award."
This year's Monarch squad hauled in a lot of hardware and manyAccolades. The 28 wins is a school single season record, and the second most in CAA league history. The 15-3 league mark tied for the best mark. Nationally, ODU ranked 20th in scoring defense (61.1), and scoring margin (+10.3). ODU ranked 25th inassists (16.2), 16th in steals (9.7), eighth in winning percentage (.824), 43rdin field goal percentage defense (40.7), and 23rd in fewest turnovers per game (12.2).
Heading the list is junior Alex Loughton. The 6-9 Forward was named the CAA Player of the Year and Tournament MVP. He was named the CAA's Scholar Athlete of the Year for men's basketball, CoSIDA Academic All-District and to the National All-Scholar Team by NACDA. Loughton also earned All-Tournament honors at the CorpusChristi Challenge.
He was named the Player of the Year in the State of Virginia by the RICHMOND TIMES DISPATCH and the Virginia Sports Information Directors' Association, and earned Honorable mention All-American honors by the ASSOCIATED PRESS and BASKETBALL TIMES. Loughton ranked in the CAA's top ten in rebounding,field goal percentage, and free throw percentage.
Isaiah Hunter was selected second team All-CAA, second team NABCDistrict IV, CAA All-Tournament, and honorable mention All-State. The Junior was named tournament MVP at the Corpus Christi Challenge. Sophomore pointguard Drew Williamson, who led the CAA with the best assist/turnover ratiowas named to the CAA All-Defensive squad and All-tournament team. SophomoreArnaud Dahi earned CAA third team honors. Dahi led the CAA in field goal percentage,and ranked fourth in blocked shots.
Entertainment will be provided by Island Boy. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. To order tickets, call the athletic ticket office at 683-5484.