Hilltoppers remember season

Thursday, April 29, 2004

Mike Wells picked up a team-high three honors at the annual Western Kentucky mens basketball awards banquet Wednesday at E.A. Diddle Arena. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound senior from Guthrie was named the Clem Haskins Most Valuable Player and Bobby Rascoe Defensive Player of the Year while also earning the E.A. Diddle Award. The latter honor which was initiated in 1971 by the Bowling Green Civitan Club in honor of the legendary Hilltopper head coach recognizes leadership, character, loyalty, ability and love of fellow man. Wells, who ranked in the top 15 in the league in eight different statistical categories, became just the third player in the history of the Sun Belt Conference to win both the Player- and Defensive Player-of-the-Year awards in the same season.Fellow senior Nigel Dixon was the only other player to pick up multiple honors, collecting the Ralph Crosthwaite Field-Goal Accuracy Award as well as being named the Tom Marshall Rebounder of the Year.Antonio Haynes was named the Dwight Smith Playmaker of the Year after posting a team-best 117 assists he was the first newcomer to lead the Hilltoppers in the category since the 1997-98 season. The John Oldham Most Improved Player Award was given to Danny Rumph, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound sophomore guard from Philadelphia. Rumph was second on the team and 14th in the Sun Belt with 2.54 assists per contest, and he also improved his assist-to-turnover ratio to 1.73 in his second year on the Hill.Sophomore guard Anthony Winchester earned the Darel Carrier Free-Throw Accuracy Award after finishing the year ranked 12th in the country with an 87.8 free-throw percentage.The winner of the Dixie Mahurin Academic Award was freshman Josh Higgins. A Dayton, Ohio, native, he was on the deans list following his first semester at WKU.Tommy Long, supervisor of Special Events, was given the Jones Family Appreciation Award.  Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700