PHILADELPHIA, PA (9/30/03) - The Saint Joseph's men's basketball team is ranked 18th in the nation, and the duo of senior
Jameer Nelson and junior
Delonte West have been tabbed as the "Top Backcourt in the Nation" by Lindy's 2003-04 College Basketball magazine, which is now available. Nelson was also ranked first among the nation's top 10 point guards.
Coming off a 23-7 season in which the team captured its third straight Atlantic 10 regular season crown, won the Philadelphia Big Five title outright for the first time since 1980 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years, expectations are at an all-time high for the Hawk program. Ranked in the preseason Top 25 in most publications, SJU returns 11 letterwinners and four starters, led by the backcourt duo of Nelson and West, who averaged 19.7 and 17.3 points per game, respectively.
Nelson, a National Player of the Year Candidate, has garnered a slew of preseason honors already. The senior from Chester, Pa. has been named a preseason first-team All-American by both Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and Athlon Sports College Basketball, and was named to the John R. Wooden Award preseason All-American Team. In addition, ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale named Nelson to his preseason "All-Rolls Royce" second team.
Nelson, a first-team All-Atlantic 10 pick in 2002-03, is the Atlantic 10's leading returning scoring (19.7 ppg) and enters his senior season with a chance to break the school record for career points. He currently has 1,435 points, 550 points behind current record holder Bernard Blunt (1,985; 1990-95). As a junior, Nelson scored 591 points, which ranks as the fifth highest season total in school history. He is also 38 assists shy of becoming the school's all-time leader.
West, a 6-4 guard from Greenbelt, Md., was ranked 12th by Lindy's in the list of "Top 20 Shooting Guards". He was also an All-Atlantic 10 first team selection in 2002-03. Prior to suffering a stress fracture in his right fibula in the latter part of the season, West was averaging a team-high 19.2 points per game and finished the season ranked seventh in the conference in scoring (17.3 ppg).
Saint Joseph's opens the 2003-04 season on November 14 against Gonzaga in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Madison Square Garden.
- SJU-
