Oklahomas Caton Hill Added To Bayer Advantage Senior CLASS Award Finalist List

Oklahoma and Duke are the only two universities that have two players as finalist for the award.

Norman, Okla. - University of Oklahoma senior Caton Hill (Ada, Okla.) has been added to the finalist list for the third annual Senior CLASS Award, presented annually to the nation's Senior Player of the Year for NCAA Division I men's and women's basketball. The Senior CLASS Award - an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School - and now has Bayer Advantage has the title sponsor. Maria Villarroel was named to the list last week.

Oklahoma and Duke (Alana Beard and Iciss Tillis) are the only two universities that have two players as finalist for the award.

Hill, a three year letterwinner and starter, returned for her senior season after suffering a season ending ACL injury in November, 2002. She currently ranks in 18-of-22 career categories for Oklahoma including first in defensive rebounds (646) and second in total boards (924). She currently tops the Sooners with 5.8 boards per game and ranks second in scoring with 14.2 ppg. Hill has produced three double-doubles this season to increase her school record to 32.

The Oklahoma native is just one of two Sooners on this year's team that played in the NCAA 2002 National championship game. Dionnah Jackson is the other.

The award was launched during the 2001-02 season in response to the recent trend of college basketball players leaving school early to turn professional, and was developed to honor seniors for completing their collegiate athletic eligibility. There are 31 female and 31 male recipients for this prestigious award. Villarroel and Hill are two of six seniors from Big 12 women's basketball up for the honor, other are Tera Bjorklund (Colorado), Nicole Ohlde (Kansas State), Jia Perkins (Texas Tech) and Stacy Stephens (Texas).

The initial idea came from CBS sportscaster Dick Enberg three years ago (during the 2001-02 season), who now serves as Honorary Chairman of the award. It became reality when the Kansas City Club agreed to present the award and serve as host organization for the culminating event last year.

The formation of the Senior CLASS Award was developed in response to the recent trend of college basketball players leaving college early to turn professional. Selection criteria is based on a number of factors, the most important being that the recipient must have exhausted their four years of eligibility and have fulfilled their commitment to their respective university. In addition, the recipient must be working toward their degree, be in good academic standing and be of sound moral character.

The performances of the “Players to Watch” for both men and women will be tracked during the season. From that pool of players, a national committee of sportscasters and sportswriters who cover college basketball on the Division I level will select 10 finalists for the female and male awards. The men's and women's award winner will be based on the cumulative ballots of the national media committee, college basketball coaches and nation-wide fan balloting.

The two winners will be announced during the respective NCAA Final Four events in April. The men's winner will be announced by Enberg during the NCAA Men's Final Four in San Antonio, while the women's winner will be announced during the NCAA Women's Final Four in New Orleans.

At the same time, the Bayer Advantage Senior CLASS Award also will announce First Team and Second Team Senior All-America Teams, based on results from the balloting.

The winners will be presented with their awards during the CLASS Tribute Gala hosted by the Pride of Kansas City Foundation on April 30, 2004. three weeks following the Final Fours.

The inaugural award winners in 2001-02 were Juan Dixon (Maryland) and Sue Bird (Connecticut), while last year's recipients were David West (Xavier) and LaToya Thomas (Mississippi State).

Hill is one of 32 finalist and one of six Big 12 candidates.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Oklahomas Caton Hill Added To Bayer Advantage Senior CLASS Award Finalist List

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