April 14, 2003

COLUMBIA, SC – At USC’s men’s basketball banquet held later this evening, senior Chuck Eidson will be named the Frank McGuire Team MVP, with senior Chris Warren picking up the Most Improved Award and the Outstanding Defensive Player. The four seniors: Eidson, Warren, Marius Petravicius and Tony Kitchings, are also slated to reflect on their careers at the annual banquet, being held at The Carolina Center in front of over 300 people.

This season Eidson broke the USC career record with 272. He is No. 28 in the 1,000 point club with 1067 points. On the USC career list he is No. 6 in assists, No. 8 in minutes played, No. 8 in games played, No. 10 in three pointers made, No. 9 in highest assist average and No. 1 in highest steal average.

Eidson (Summerville, South Carolina) also won the Award for the Best Free Throw Percentage and the Most Assists Award. Eidson led the team in free throw shooting – hitting 81 of 99 free throws for 82 %. He hit a career best 12 of 12 in the win over 76-59 win over Clemson in February. In his career, Chuck was 236 for 323, hitting 73%. For the second time in his USC career, Eidson led the team in assists. He tallied 125 in 2003, including a season-high 10 against South Carolina State and Florida. He is No. 6 on USC’s career assist list with 428 in the garnet and black.

Forward Rolando Howell (Columbia, South Carolina) won the Most Outstanding Rebounder Award and the EXPO Award. Howell led the team with 176 rebounds this season and therefore wins the Most Outstanding Rebounder Award. Howell had a season high 11 rebounds against Auburn in January. The EXPO Award is given to the player with the best numbers for offensive rebounds, charges, steals, control of block shots, deflections – anything that gets the team an extra possession. Howell led the team in offensive rebounds with 64, was second in steals at 39 and led the team in charges with 14 taken.

This season Warren, the Most Improved Player and the Outstanding Defensive Player Award winner, led USC in SEC games in points per game. He averaged 4.1 points per game last season and more than doubled that tally this season, averaging almost 10 points per game. He led USC in scoring three times and scored in double figures eight of the last 10 games. He had a career high three blocks and hit eight field goals against Ole Miss. He is from Garland, Texas.

Please see the following list for the awards for the USC Men’s Basketball Team.

Award                                          Award WinnerBest Free Throw Percentage                     Chuck EidsonMost Assists                                   Chuck EidsonOutstanding Rebounder                          Rolando HowellThe EXPO Award                                 Rolando HowellDr. Charlie Crews Strength/Conditioning Award  John ChappellShad Hamilton Outstanding Manager Award        Hall Beard and                                               Shahryar HumayunBuck Freeman Sportsmanship Award               Marius PetraviciusAcademic Award                                 John ChappellOutstanding Defensive Player                   Chris WarrenMost Improved Player                           Chris WarrenFrank McGuire Most Valuable Player Award       Chuck EidsonGamecock Sixth Man Service Award               Cheryl Harrell