And yes, even congrats to Appy State's Houston Fanchar. Good year this year Apps. Martin Led SoCon in Scoring; Atsur Carries a 3.2 Overall GPA


March 2, 2003

Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina sophomore Kevin Martin was named to the 10-member All-Southern Conference team for the second consecutive year, as voted on by the league's coaches, it was announced today. It has also been announced that junior guard Emre Atsur has been named to the league's TIAA-CREF Academic All-Conference team for winter 2003 due to his 3.2 cumulative grade point average in the classroom and earning 16 starts on the basketball court this season.

Martin (Zanesville, Ohio/Zanesville HS) finished the season as the SoCon's leading scorer with an average of 22.6 points per game. Last season, the 6-7 guard ranked second in the league with a 22.1 scoring average. Martin additionally ranked second in the conference this season with his 88.8 free throw percentage, making 158-of-178, while finishing seventh in the league by making 2.13 3-pointers per game.

Martin, who ranked 11th in the NCAA in its last weekly report, earned SoCon Player of the Week honors on Feb. 11 after he scored 37 points in a win versus UNC Greensboro, then scored 21 points at East Tennessee State to break the 1,000-point plateau for his career. He joins four-time All-American Henry Logan as the only Catamounts to score their 1,000th point in their sophomore season. Martin now has 1,138 career points to rank 24th on Western's all-time scoring list.

Martin opened the 2002-03 season with a 46-point performance versus Coastal Carolina, a point total which ranks seventh among NCAA Division I players this season. In his 37-point performance versus UNCG, he made 11-of-12 shots from the field for a .917 percentage, which is the ninth-best single-game effort in the nation this season. He additionally has two of the top free throw performances in the nation, making all 14 versus Coastal and all 13 versus Georgia Southern. In all, Martin scored at least 20 points in a game in 15 of his 23 games, while going over 30 points five times.

Atsur (Istanbul, Turkey/St. Benoit HS) adds to his impressive academic resume. The international business major was named the SoCon's TIAA-CREF Southern Conference Student Athlete of the Week as WCU posted wins over Appalachian State and UNC Greensboro.

Atsur played a key role in the Catamounts' win over SoCon foe UNC Greensboro on Jan. 27, hitting several key baskets late against the Spartans. Atsur's performance was capped off by his hitting a runner in the lane with 12 seconds left to give Western Carolina a one-point lead and throwing the inbounds pass to Rans Brempong, which led to WCU's game-winning basket as time expired. For the week, Atsur averaged seven points, four rebounds and two steals while handing out 10 assists with just two turnovers.

Atsur, a member of the Western Carolina Student-Athlete Advisory Council, averages 6.2 points for the season, but scores 7.5 per game in league games.

Martin and Atsur will lead Western Carolina as the Catamounts face Georgia Southern in the first round of the 2003 Mountain Dew Southern Conference Championship. Western, the fourth seed of the SoCon North, will play the Eagles, the fifth seed from the SoCon South, in the first game of the event on Wednesday, Mar. 5. Tip-off is set for Noon at the North Charleston Coliseum.




2003 Southern Conference Coaches All-Conference Team
Graham Bunn, Appalachian State Player of the Year: Troy Wheless, CofC
Shawn Hall, Appalachian State Freshman of the Year: Tim Smith, ETSU
Ashley Champion, Chattanooga Coach of the Year: Houston Fanchar, ASU
Troy Wheless, College of Charleston
Wayne Bernard, Davidson
Zakee Wadood, East Tennessee State
Karim Souchu, Furman
Julius Jenkins, Georgia Southern
Kevin Martin, Western Carolina
Mike Lenzly, Wofford