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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 8, 2003

DENVER – The Western Athletic Conference announced its all-WAC teams and coach and players of the year

awards as voted upon by the WAC’s coaches. WAC Champion Boise State and Hawai‘i led the league with five first-team

all-WAC honorees, while Fresno State placed four on the first team. Boise State’s Ryan Dinwiddie was named the

Offensive Player of the Year and Hawai‘i’s Travis LaBoy earned Defensive Player of the Year honors. Tulsa linebacker

Nick Bunting was the Freshman of the Year while the Golden Hurricane’s first-year coach, Steve Kragthorpe, was voted

the WAC’s Coach of the Year.

Dinwiddie, a senior quarterback from Elk Grove, Calif. (Elk Grove HS), leads the WAC and is fourth nationally in

passing efficiency with a 165.0 rating. He leads the WAC with 4,031 passing yards and 28 touchdown passes. Dinwiddie

completed 257-of-411 passes on the season with just five interceptions. He also scored 12 rushing touchdowns, tied for

the most in the WAC.

LaBoy, a senior defensive end from San Rafael, Calif. (Utah State), leads the WAC with 13.0 sacks for 101 yards. He

also had nine additional tackles for a loss of 42 yards. LaBoy has a total of 76 tackles and has picked off two passes and

recovered two fumbles on the season.

Bunting, a freshman from Tulsa, Okla. (Holland Hall), recorded 74 tackles (34 solo, 40 assists) and 6.5 tackles for

loss. He also had three sacks and intercepted two passes for the Golden Hurricane.

Kragthorpe earned his coach of the year award after leading Tulsa to an 8-4 record and to its first bowl game in 12

years. Tulsa came off back-to-back one-win seasons prior to Kragthorpe’s arrival. The Golden Hurricane finished in a tie

for second in the WAC with a 6-2 record and will play Georgia Tech in the Humanitarian Bowl on Jan. 3.

Repeat first team selections from last year include Dinwiddie and Hawai‘i senior defensive back Hyrum Peters.

For the second time in his career, Fresno State senior Bernard Berrian was named a first team all-WAC receiver and

special teams player. Berrian was named to both positions in 2001, but missed last year after an injury in the first game of

the year forced him to miss the season.

Nevada, Rice and Tulsa placed three players on the first-team, while Louisiana Tech and UTEP each had two.

The complete all-WAC selections follow.

Pos Name School Ht. Wt. Year

WR Chad Owens Hawai‘i 5-9 177 Jr.

WR Tim Gilligan Boise State 5-9 181 Sr.

WR Bernard Berrian Fresno State 6-2 190 Sr.

TE Garrett Mills Tulsa 6-2 214 So.

OL Trey Darilek UTEP 6-6 305 Sr.

OL Austin Chadwick Tulsa 6-4 283 Sr.

OL Harvey Dahl Nevada 6-5 309 Jr.

OL Ben Stephens Rice 6-2 300 Sr.

OL Chris DeMunbrun Rice 6-4 295 Sr.

QB *Ryan Dinwiddie Boise State 6-1 187 Sr.

RB Ryan Moats Louisiana Tech 5-8 201 So.

RB Howard Jackson UTEP 5-10 160 Jr.

Pos Name School Ht. Wt. Year

DL Isaac Sopoaga Hawai‘i 6-3 315 Sr.

DL Travis LaBoy Hawai‘i 6-4 249 Sr.

DL Jorge Cordova Nevada 6-2 250 Sr.

DL Julius Roberts Boise State 6-5 239 Jr.

LB Andy Avalos Boise State 5-10 223 Jr.

LB Bryce McGill Fresno State 5-11 205 Sr.

LB Nick Bunting Tulsa 6-1 205 Fr.

LB Daryl Towns Nevada 6-0 230 Sr.

DB Wes Nurse Boise State 5-10 189 Sr.

DB *Hyrum Peters Hawai‘i 5-8 188 Sr.

DB Kelvin Millhouse Hawai‘i 6-1 205 Sr.

DB James Sanders Fresno State 5-11 205 So.

Pos Name School Ht. Wt. Year

PK Josh Scobee Louisiana Tech 6-2 186 Sr.

P Jared Scruggs Rice 6-3 165 Fr.

ST Bernard Berrian Fresno State 6-2 190 Sr.

*2002 First Team All-WAC Selection

Offensive Player of the Year – Ryan Dinwiddie, Sr., QB, Boise State

Defensive Player of the Year – Travis LaBoy, Sr., DE, Hawai‘i

Freshman of the Year – Nick Bunting, LB, Tulsa

Coach of the Year – Steve Kragthorpe, Tulsa

WR Tuati Wooden, Sr., San Jose State

WR D.J. Curry, Sr., Louisiana Tech

WR Romby Bryant, Sr., Tulsa

TE Courtney Anderson, Sr., San Jose State

OL Daryn Colledge, So., Boise State

OL Dartagnon Shack, So., Fresno State

OL Samson Satele, Fr., Hawai‘i

OL Joseph Hayes, Sr., San Jose State

OL Chris Hines, Jr., Nevada

OL LaMons Walker, Sr., San Jose State

QB James Kilian, Jr., Tulsa

RB Chance Kretschmer, Jr., Nevada

RB Keylon Kincade, Sr., SMU

DL Derek Kennard, Sr., Nevada

DL Brian Morris, Jr., Fresno State

DL Garrett McIntyre, So., Fresno State

DL Allan Adami, Jr., SMU

LB Robert Rodriguez, Jr., UTEP

LB Michael LeDet, Jr., Tulsa

LB Byron Santiago, Jr., Louisiana Tech

LB Travis Burgher, Sr., Boise State

LB Antonio Crow, Sr., Louisiana Tech

DB Kedrick Alexander, So., Tulsa

DB Gabe Franklin, Jr., Boise State

DB Gerald Jones, Sr., San Jose State

DB Jermaine Hope, Jr., Tulsa

PK Brett Visintainer, Jr., Fresno State

P Bryce Benekos, Jr., UTEP

ST Tim Gilligan, Sr., Boise State

Spach, Jr., Fresno State; Jonas Crafts, Jr., UTEP; Caleb Blankenship, Jr., Tulsa; OL-Tyrone Tutogi, Sr., Boise State; Kyle Young, Fr.,

Fresno State; Adrian Gonzalez, Jr., Louisiana Tech; Aaron Lips, So., Louisiana Tech; Isaiah Ross, Sr., Nevada; Sterling Harris, Sr.,

SMU; Steve Reindl, Sr., SMU; QB-Timmy Chang, Jr., Hawai‘i; Luke McCown, Sr., Louisiana Tech; Scott Rislov, Sr., San Jose State;

RB-David Mikell, Sr., Boise State; Dwayne Wright, So., Fresno State; Thomas Lott, So., Rice; Eric Richardson, Sr., Tulsa.

DL-Paul Allen, Sr., Boise State; Dane Oldham, Sr., Boise State; Claude Sanders, Jr., Fresno State; Chris Barry, Jr., Nevada; Jeremy

Davis, Sr., Tulsa; LB-Korey Hall, Fr., Boise State; Marc Dailey, Sr., Fresno State; Idaika Curnan, So., Hawai‘i; Logan Carter, So.,

Nevada; Jorma Bailey, Sr., Tulsa; DB-Julius Brown, Sr., Boise State; Dee Meza, Sr., Fresno State; Abraham Elimimian, Jr., Hawai‘i;

Keone Kauo, Jr., Nevada; Terry Holley, Jr., Rice; Eric Wilson, Jr., San Jose State.

PK-Tyler Jones, Jr., Boise State; P-Dustin Upton, Sr., Louisiana Tech; ST-Kendrick Starling, Sr., San Jose State; Jonas Rutledge, Sr.,

SMU.