The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB's Taylor Lands On All-Conference Team
3/7/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 7, 2005
BIRMINGHAN, Ala. ----- UAB senior guard Donell Taylor was named to Conference USA's all-conference second team Monday as the league unveiled its postseason teams. The all-conference teams featured three repeat first team selections as voted upon by the league's coaches and media.
"I'm very happy for Donell," UAB head coach Mike Anderson said. "The honor is a by-product of the hard work he has put in to try and be a better player this season. His reward for that is being named to the all-conference team. I know he is happy about it and I'm sure he would say credit is also due to his teammates for him to be put in a position to be recognized."
Marquette's Travis Diener, Francisco Garcia of Louisville and Charlotte's Curtis Withers each earned first team all-conference honors for the second time. They were joined on the first team by Eddie Basden of Charlotte and DePaul's Quemont Greer.
Taylor was joined on the second team by Rodney Carney of Memphis, Terrence Leather of USF, Cincinnati's Jason Maxiell and Houston's Andre Owens. Louisville's Taquan Dean, Drake Diener of DePaul, Cincinnati's Eric Hicks, Corey Santee of TCU and Memphis's Darius Washington were named third team all-conference.
The league's individual honors are slated for announcement on Tuesday and Wednesday. The all-freshman team, Freshman, Defensive Player and Sixth Person of the Year awards will be announced Tuesday, along with the 10th Anniversary All-Decade Men's Basketball Team. The Coach and Player of the Year Awards will be unveiled on Wednesday.
Taylor, a 6-6, 180-pound senior guard from Montgomery, Ala., and Okaloosa-Walton Community College, is the leading scorer for the Blazers with a 15.9 points-per-game average. One of the most versatile players in Conference USA, Taylor also averages 4.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game while shooting 52.4 percent from the field, 41 percent from three-point range and 79.5 percent from the free throw line. He has scored in double figures in all but one contest for UAB this year, which finished its regular season 20-9 and 10-6 in league play.
The Blazers are the No. 4 seed in this week's Kelly Tires Conference USA Tournament in the FedExForum in Memphis. UAB awaits the winner of Wednesday's first round contest between No. 5 DePaul and No. 12 Tulane in a 2:30 p.m. CT quarterfinals match up on Thursday.
