Orange Garners USBWA All-District Honors
3/16/2010 2:10:14 PM | Men's Basketball
The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) had named Syracuse's Jim Boeheim as its District II Coach of the Year. Forward Wes Johnson and guard Andy Rautins were also recognized with selection to the District II All-District Team.
Boeheim guided the 2009-10 Orange to a 28-4 overall record, an outright BIG EAST regular-season title, a top ranking in both national polls and one of four number one seeds in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history. Boeheim was named BIG EAST Coach of the Year in a vote by the conference coaches for the fourth time in his career.
The winningest coach in BIG EAST history with a 371-203 overall record, Boeheim opened the season with his 800th career victory. As he prepares his club for its 32nd NCAA Tournament appearance, Boeheim ranks sixth on the all-time Division I Coaches Win list with 827. Among active coaches, only Duke's Mike Krzyzewski has more (859).
A first-team USBWA All-America selection and BIG EAST Player of the Year, Johnson leads the Orange in scoring (16.0), rebounding (8.4), and minutes played (34.7) averages. He has started all 32 games for Syracuse this season.
Johnson was also named a FoxSports.com First Team All-American and earned Sporting News Second Team All-America honors. The junior transfer from Iowa State also earned Newcomer of the Year accolades from Yahoo! Sports and is a finalist for the Naismith, Oscar Robertson and Wooden Awards.
Rautins has joined Johnson in the starting five throughout the season, leading the team in assists (5.0) and steals per game (2.0) while ranking second in scoring average (11.7). He ranks second all-time on the SU career 3-point scoring ledger and has 86 to his credit this season.
Rautins earned All-BIG EAST second team honors and was a Fifth Team All-America selection by the Sporting News.
The USBWA All-District Teams are based on voting from the association's national membership. There are nine regions from coast to coast and a player and coach of the year were selected in each.
Boeheim, Johnson, Rautins and the Orange open NCAA Tournament play against Vermont on Friday, March 19 at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, N.Y.
