Forth, Pace and Warrick Earn BIG EAST Awards
3/8/2005 8:50:17 PM | Men's Basketball
NEW YOK, NY -- Seniors Craig Forth, Josh Pace and Hakim Warrick each won awards at the 2005 BIG EAST Conference Men's Basketball pre-tournament press conference in New York on Tuesday, March 8. Forth earned the BIG EAST/Aeropostale Scholar-Athlete Award, Pace received the Sportsmanship Award and Warrick was the Player of the Year.
Forth was the second Syracuse player to earn the academic recognition, joining Stephen Thompson, who won in 1990. Forth, a two-time Academic All-America selection, is an inclusive education and geography major at Syracuse. He has started all 132 games in his career. Forth is averaging 5.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game this season.
Pace joins former teammate Kueth Duany (2003) as winners of the league's Sportsmanship Award. Pace has started all 30 games this season and is averaging 10.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.
Warrick is the first SU performer to be named BIG EAST Player of the Year since Derrick Coleman (1990) and Billy Owens (1991) won it in back-to-back years. Warrick is averaging 21.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. He ranked second in scoring and fourth in rebounding among BIG EAST performers during the regular season.
Warrick, who was named the USBWA District 2 Player of the Year earlier in the day, is closing in on 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. He has 1,983 points and 977 points. Only Derrick Coleman, Rony Seikaly, John Wallace and Jon Cincebox have reached that stat double at Syracuse.
Warrick and junior Gerry McNamara were First Team All-BIG EAST picks on Monday. Pace was an honorable mention selection.
The Orange await the winner of Wednesday night's BIG EAST Tournament game between Notre Dame and Rutgers. Syracuse's quarterfinal contest is scheduled for Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. on ESPN2.
