University of North Texas Athletics
Hopkins and Johnson Named All-Sun Belt
3/4/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
DENTON ( 3/4/04 ) North Texas men’s basketball standouts Leonard Hopkins and Shawnson Johnson have been named to the All-Sun Belt Conference Team, released Thursday by the league office.
Hopkins, a junior guard, makes his first appearance to the postseason squad as a Second Team selection. The Dallas, Tex., native led the Mean Green in scoring this season with 13.5 points per game and was ranked 10th in the Sun Belt in scoring. His 16.9 points per game against Sun Belt opponents only was the fourth highest in the conference.
Hopkins posted an .827 free throw percentage, which was the fifth highest in the league. He scored in double figures a team-best 18 times, including five 20-point games. He led the Mean Green in scoring 10 times during the season and scored a career-high 25 points in three different games.
A senior transfer, Johnson was named to the third team after averaging 11.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game. Johnson enrolled at North Texas in January of 2003 and practiced with the team the remainder of the season, but due to NCAA transferring rules wasn’t eligible to compete in a game until the end of the fall semester.
In just 22 games in a North Texas uniform, Johnson broke the school-record for single-season blocks with 61. He is the only player in school history to block five or more shots in three different games. His 61 blocks also ranks third on the career blocks list at NT.
Johnson recorded a team-best four double-doubles this season and was no more than two rebounds or one point shy of having seven more. He led the Mean Green in rebounds 14 games and in blocks 18.
The Mean Green will play New Orleans in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament on Sunday at 8 p.m. in Bowling Green , Kentucky .
ALL-SUN BELT CONFERENCE
FIRST TEAM CLASS POS. SCHOOL
Nigel Dixon Sr. C Western Kentucky
Tommy Gunn Sr G Middle Tennessee
J.J. Montgomery Jr. G Arkansas State
James Moore Sr. F New Mexico State
Mike Wells Sr. G Western Kentucky
SECOND TEAM
Erik Benzel Sr. G Denver
Laurie Bridges Sr. G Louisiana-Lafayette
Mike Dean Jr. G Middle Tennessee
Leonard Hopkins Jr. G North Texas
Dewarick Spencer Jr. G Arkansas State
THIRD TEAM
Brandon Freeman Jr. G Arkansas-Little Rock
Brian Hamilton Jr. F Louisiana-Lafayette
Shawnson Johnson Sr. F North Texas
Antoine Landry Sr. G Louisiana-Lafayette
Bo McCalebb Fr. G New Orleans
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Mike Wells, WKU
DEF. PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Mike Wells, WKU
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Bo McCalebb, UNO
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Nigel Dixon, WKU
COACH OF THE YEAR: Steve Shields, UALR
