March 11, 2003
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State men's basketball player Tony Bland was named to the USBWA All-District IX team, the United States Basketball Writers Association organization announced on Tuesday.
The 10-member team is comprised of student-athletes from schools located in California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Arizona and Alaska. Bland was one of just of four players from a non-Pac Ten Conference school to make the team.
Bland, a 6-5 guard from Los Angeles, Calif. leads the Aztec team in scoring at 16.7 points per game. The senior is also averages 3.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists per contest, while averaging 34.8 minutes of playing time per game. A co-captain on the 2002-03 Aztec team, he ranks second in the Mountain West Conference in assist-to-turnover ratio, fourth in scoring and fourth in assists. He has connected on 52.9 percent of his field goal attempts during conference play.
Last month Bland was selected as a second team Division I All-District honoree by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and earlier this week the senior was named to the Mountain West Conference second team.
This is the third consecutive year that San Diego State has been represented on the USBWA all-district team. Randy Holcomb made the squad in both 2001 and 2002.
USBWA District IX Team
Julius Barnes, StanfordTony Bland, San Diego StateIke Diogu, Arizona StateCarl English, Hawai'iJason Gardner, ArizonaJason Keep, San DiegoLuke Ridnour, OregonPhillip Ricci, Oregon StateJoe Shipp, CaliforniaBlake Stepp, Gonzaga
District Player of the Year: Jason Gardner, ArizonaDistrict Coach of the Year: Mike Montgomery, Stanford