Four SMU football players were named to the All-Western Athletic Conference first team, the conference office announced today.
SMU and Fresno State each placed three players on the first team defense. Senior LB Jason Simonton earned first team All-WAC honors for the second straight year. Senior DL Luke Johnson and senior DB Tracy Hart joined him on the 1999 first team. Freshman ST Chris Cunningham was named to the first team All-WAC specialists squad.
TCU junior running back LaDainian Tomlinson earned Offensive Player of the Year honors, UTEP defensive end Brian Young is the Defensive Player of the Year and Tulsa quarterback Josh Blankenship was named the Freshman of the Year. Hawai'i first-year head coach June Jones is the Coach of the Year.
Tomlinson, a junior from Waco, Texas (University HS), led both the WAC and the nation in rushing yards with 168.2 per game. His season total of 1,850 rushing yards set a TCU and WAC single-season record. He also led the WAC in all-purpose yards with 179.5 per game and in scoring with 9.8 points per contest.
Young, a senior from El Paso, Texas (Andress HS), was fourth in the WAC with 10.1 tackles per game. He made a total of 121 tackles (84 solo), had
7.5 sacks and 16 tackles for a loss of 82 yards.
Blankenship, a freshman from Tulsa, Okla. (Union HS), took over as the
starting quarterback for Tulsa in mid-October and played in a total of 10
games. He completed 119-of-235 passes for 1,416 yards and seven touchdowns. In one four-game stretch, Blankenship passed for more than 200 yards in each contest.
Jones earned his first coach of the year award after leading the Rainbow Warriors to an 8-4 record and a share of the WAC title. Jones is in his first season with Hawai'i and has directed his team to a berth in the Oahu Bowl on Dec. 25. Hawai'i tied an NCAA record this season by improving eight games in the win column from last year.
Repeat first team selections from last year include: Brian Natkin, TE,
UTEP; Brian Young, DL, UTEP; and Jason Simonton, LB, SMU.
Fresno State and Hawai'i led the WAC with six first team selections. SMU and UTEP placed four players each on the first team, while TCU had
three. Rice, San Jose State and Tulsa each had one player voted to the
team. The All-WAC teams were determined by voting of the WAC coaches.
The complete all-WAC selections follow.
First Team
Offense
Pos Name School Ht. Wt. Year
WR Rodney Wright Fresno State 5-8 175 So.
WR Dwight Carter Hawai`i 5-10 174 Sr.
TE *Brian Natkin UTEP 6-4 245 Sr.
OL Adrian Klemm Hawai`i 6-5 322 Sr.
OL Kaulana Noa Hawai`i 6-5 317 Sr.
OL Neal Gray Rice 6-3 275 Sr.
OL David Bobo TCU 6-5 285 Jr.
OL Carey Clayton UTEP 6-4 272 Jr.
QB Billy Volek Fresno State 6-2 210 Sr.
RB LaDainian Tomlinson TCU 5-11 210 Jr.
RB Paul Smith UTEP 5-11 235 Sr.
Defense
Pos Name School Ht. Wt. Year
DL Alan Harper Fresno State 6-2 275 So.
DL Luke Johnson SMU 6-1 230 Sr.
DL Aaron Schobel TCU 6-4 246 Jr.
DL *Brian Young UTEP 6-4 274 Sr.
LB Orlando Huff Fresno State 6-3 220 Jr.
LB Jeff Ulbrich Hawai`i 6-1 243 Sr.
LB *Jason Simonton SMU 5-11 225 Sr.
DB Anthony Limbrick Fresno State 6-1 195 Jr.
DB Quincy LeJay Hawai`i 5-9 183 Sr.
DB Tracy Hart SMU 5-11 195 Sr.
DB Todd Franz Tulsa 6-1 190 Sr.
Specialists
Pos Name School Ht. Wt. Year
PK Jeff Hanna Fresno State 6-1 196 Sr.
P Tim Morgan San Jose State 6-6 213 Sr.
ST Jamal Garland Hawai`i 5-10 174 So.
ST Chris Cunningham SMU 5-8 175 Fr.
*1998 All-WAC Selection
#1997 All-WAC Selection
Top Individual Awards
Offensive Player of the Year ? LaDainian Tomlinson, Jr., RB, TCU
Defensive Player of the Year ? Brian Young, Sr., DE, UTEP
Freshman of the Year ? Josh Blankenship, QB, Tulsa
Coach of the Year ? June Jones, Hawai`i
Second Team
Offense
WR Steven Pulley, Sr., San Jose State
WR Lee Mays, So., UTEP
WR #Damon Savage, Sr., Tulsa
OL Rob Gatrell, Sr., Fresno State
OL Chris Fe'esago, So., San Jose State
OL Austin Adami, Sr., SMU
OL Mike Keathley, Jr., TCU
OL Jeff Millican, Jr., TCU
QB Dan Robinson, Sr., Hawai`i
RB Deonce Whitaker, Jr., San Jose State
RB John Mosley, Sr., Tulsa
Defense
DL Matt Paul, Sr., Hawai`i
DL London Dunlap, Sr., TCU
DL Shawn Worthen, Jr., TCU
LB *Tim Skipper, Jr., Fresno State
LB Shannon Brazzell, Jr., TCU
LB Robert Weathers, Sr., UTEP
LB Ashon Farley, Jr., Tulsa
DB Jason Hebert, So., Rice
DB Curtis Fuller, Jr., TCU
DB Reggie Hunt, Sr., TCU
DB Derek Walker, Jr., UTEP
Specialists
PK *Ricky Bishop, Jr., UTEP
P Chad Shrout, Sr., Hawai`i
ST Charles Smith, So., Fresno State
Others receiving votes
Offense
WR-Charles, Smith, So., Fresno State; Craig Stutzmann, So., Hawai`i; Mike
Scarborough, Sr., TCU; TE-B.J. Roberts, So., TCU; Pete Muther, Sr., Tulsa;
OL-Chad Ede, Sr., Fresno State; Dustin Owen, Sr., Hawai`i; Andy Phillips,
Sr., Hawai`i; Lawrence Norman, So., UTEP; Jeff Seeton, Jr., UTEP; Steve
Schiller, Jr., Tulsa, Steve Wiedower, Jr., Tulsa; QB-Chad Richardson, Sr.,
Rice; Casey Printers, Fr., TCU; RB-Paris Gaines, So., Fresno State; Derrick
Ward, Fr., Fresno State; Avion Weaver, Jr., Hawai`i; *Rodnick Phillips, Sr.,
SMU.
Defense
DL-Nick Burley, Fr., Fresno State; B.J. Forguson, So., Rice; Judd Smith,
Sr., Rice; Abdul-Salam Noah, Sr., San Jose State; LB-Yaphet Warren, Sr.,
Hawai`i; Dan Dawson, So., Rice; Josh Parry, Jr., San Jose State; DB-Vernon
Fox, So., Fresno State; Dee Miller, Jr., Hawai`i; Raymon Brown, Sr., SMU;
Nick Salinas, Sr., UTEP.
Special Teams
PK-Derek Crabtree, So., Rice; P-Royce Huffman, Sr., TCU; ST-Waking Bailey,
Jr., San Jose State; Reggie Hunt, Sr., TCU.
