InsideTulsaSports.com - Jordan named C-USA preseason POTY

October 15, 2009

Media Release

IRVING, Texas - Tulsa senior center Jerome Jordan was selected the 2009-10 Conference USA Men's Basketball Preseason Player of the Year in a vote of the league's 12 head coaches. Jordan is one of four seniors and a sophomore named to the All-Conference USA preseason team.

The seven-foot center earned a spot on 2008-09 all-conference first team and all-defensive team. He enters this season with 251 career blocks, just 15 shy of the school's record and needs only 63 to set the conference mark. Jordan ranked nationally in three categories last season, 19th in blocked shots (2.5 per game), 22nd for field goal percentage (.586) and 50th for rebounds (8.6 rpg). For the season, he averaged 13.8 points per game in all games and increased his output to 17.1 ppg against conference competition.

Jordan shares a spot on the preseason squad with teammate Ben Uzoh. The senior guard also earned 2008-09 All-Conference USA honors with a selection to the second team. Uzoh became just the fourth player in school history - and the second fastest - to reach 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 steals. With 1,417 career points entering the season, Uzoh is on track to rank among the Top 10 all-time scorers in C-USA history.

Houston also placed a pair of seniors on the preseason team with the guard duo of Aubrey Coleman and Kelvin Lewis. The pair ranked among the top four scorers in C-USA last season, averaging 19.4 and 18.0 points per game, respectively. Coleman, the C-USA Newcomer of the Year and a first-team selection, also grabbed 8.2 rebounds per game to be the only C-USA player to rank among the top four in both categories. Lewis earned nods on the All-Conference USA third team and all-defensive squad, while also draining a team-high 93 three-point field goals.

Rounding out the preseason team is the lone sophomore, UTEP forward Arnett Moultrie. As a freshman, Moultrie easily established himself as one of the top freshmen in a league that also boasted the consensus National Freshman of the Year and first-round NBA Draft pick in Tyreke Evans of Memphis. Moultrie was the top freshman in C-USA and fifth nationally for rebounding (8.2 per game) and also topped C-USA freshmen with blocked shots (0.95).

Tulsa will serve as host city for the 2010 Conference USA Championship, March 10-13 at the state-of-the-art BOK Center. The championship game is slated for Saturday, March 13 at 11:35 a.m. EST/10:35 a.m. CST on CBS.

2009-10 PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jerome Jordan, Tulsa, C, 7-0, Sr., Kingston, Jamaica

2009-10 PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Aubrey Coleman, Houston, G, 6-4, Sr., Houston, Texas
Jerome Jordan, Tulsa, C, 7-0, Sr., Kingston, Jamaica
Kelvin Lewis, Houston, G, 6-4, Sr., Fort Worth, Texas
Arnett Moultrie, UTEP, F, 6-11, So., Memphis, Tenn.
Ben Uzoh, Tulsa, G, 6-3, Sr., San Antonio, Texas

FEATURED PRODUCT