Aug. 1, 2002

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. –
South Carolina senior defensive back Rashad Faison has been voted to the 2002 SEC Preseason All-SEC first team defensive squad, as selected Thursday by members of the media attending the 2002 SEC Football Media Days in Birmingham. Carolina offensive lineman Travelle Wharton and running back Andrew Pinnock were selected to the second team offensive squad as well, while the Gamecocks were picked by the media to finish fourth in the SEC Eastern division.

Faison, a native of Wauchula, Fla., was a 2001 All-SEC selection and is a preseason All-American and on the 2002 Bronko Nagurski Award Watch List. He led the Gamecocks in tackles last season (104) and tackles for loss (9.5) with an interception, two quarterback sacks and seven passes broken up. Faison also returned a blocked field goal 82 yards for a touchdown against Boise State and had a season-best 13 tackles in the win over Clemson.

Wharton, a junior from Fountain Inn, S.C., earned Freshman All-America honors in 2000. He helped the Gamecock offense rank near the top of the SEC in rushing in 2001, including the Vanderbilt game, where USC set a single-game USC total offense record with 656 yards.

A native of Bloomfield, Conn., Pinnock looks to have a big year as the primary back for the Gamecocks. He had 12 touchdowns in 2001 and had 5.4 yards per carry with his excellent speed and size (6-0, 255). Pinnock is on the preseason watch list for the Doak Walker Award, presented to the nation’s top running back. He enters his senior season with 1,289 career rushing yards and 20 touchdowns, and is within range of the USC career record of 33 set by George Rogers and Harold Green.

Tennessee was the media’s pick to win the SEC East and overall league title. Georgia was selected second in the East and was followed by Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky and Vanderbilt. The Gamecocks earned three first place votes to win the SEC East and two to capture the league crown.

Carolina opens the 2002 season Aug. 31 at Williams-Brice Stadium against New Mexico State.

2002 PRE-SEASON ALL-SEC TEAM
(As voted on by members of attendees at SEC Football Media Day) [80 total voters]
* – Ties

FIRST-TEAM OFFENSE
P.	Name                     School    Ht.  Wt. Cl. Hometown
TE	Jason Witten (33)	       Tennessee	6-5	 265	Jr.	Elizabethton, Tenn.
OL	Jon Stinchcomb (75)	     Georgia	  6-6 	282	Sr.	Lilburn, Ga.
OL	Shawn Andrews (57)	      Arkansas	 6-5	 350	So.	Camden, Ark.
OL	Shannon Snell (24)	      Florida	  6-5	 301	Jr.	Tampa, Fla.
OL	Justin Smiley (22)	      Alabama	  6-4 	296	So.	Ellabell, Ga.
 C	Ben Claxton (60)	        Ole Miss	 6-3	 288	Sr.	Dublin, Ga.
QB	Rex Grossman (54)	       Florida	  6-1	 220	Jr.	Bloomington, Ind.
WR	Kelley Washington (66)	  Tennessee	6-4 	225	So.	Stephens City, Va.
WR	Taylor Jacobs (32)	      Florida	  6-1	 198	Sr.	Monticello, Fla.
RB	LaBrandon Toefield (56) 	LSU	      6-0 	225	Jr.	Independence, La.
RB	Earnest Graham (42)	     Florida	  5-9	 215	Sr.	Ft. Myers, Fla.
PK	Damon Duval (62)	        Auburn	   6-1	 187	Sr.	Chattanooga, Tenn.
RS	Domanick Davis (27)	     LSU	      5-10	211	Sr.	Breaux Bridge, La.

FIRST-TEAM DEFENSE
P. Name School Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown
DL Jarret Johnson (56) Alabama 6-4 287 Sr. Chiefland, Fla.
DL Ian Scott (56) Florida 6-3 307 Jr. Gainesville, Fla.
DL Kindal Moorehead (43) Alabama 6-4 304 Sr. Memphis, Tenn.
LB Bradie James (71) LSU 6-3 238 Sr. West Monroe, La.
LB Boss Bailey (57) Georgia 6-4 218 Sr. Folkston, Ga.
LB Dontarrious Thomas (55) Auburn 6-4 223 Jr. Perry, Ga.
LB Mario Haggan (47) Miss. State 6-3 253 Sr. Clarksdale, Miss.
DB Rashad Faison (74) S. Carolina 5-9 190 Sr. Wauchula, Fla.
DB Todd Johnson (57) Florida 6-1 201 Sr. Sarasota, Fla.
DB Jabari Greer (36) Tennessee 5-10 175 Jr. Jackson, Tenn.
DB Lawrence Richardson (29) Arkansas 5-10 174 Jr. Galveston, Texas
P Glenn Pakulak (30) Kentucky 6-3 230 Sr. Lapeer, Mich.

SECOND-TEAM OFFENSE
P. Name School Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown
TE Doug Zeigler (32) Ole Miss 6-4 254 Sr. Wilmington, Ohio
OL Will Ofenheusle (21) Tennessee 6-8 305 Sr. Martin, Tenn.
OL Travelle Wharton (14) S. Carolina 6-4 300 Jr. Fountain Inn, S.C.
OL Kevin Breedlove (14) Georgia 6-4 305 Sr. Clemson, S.C.
*OL Michael Munoz (12) Tennessee 6-6 300 So. Mason, Ohio
*OL Max Starks (12) Florida 6-8 345 Jr. Orlando, Fla.
C Alonzo Ephraim (15) Alabama 6-4 312 Sr. Birmingham, Ala.
QB Eli Manning (18) Ole Miss 6-4 215 Jr. New Orleans, La.
WR Fred Gibson (23) Georgia 6-4 180 So. Waycross, Ga.
WR Michael Clayton (12) LSU 6-4 185 So. Baton Rouge, La.
RB Carnell Williams (36) Auburn 5-11 193 So. Attalla, Ala.
RB Andrew Pinnock (12) S. Carolina 6-0 255 Sr. Bloomfield, Conn.
PK Alex Walls (10) Tennessee 6-1 190 Sr. Bristol, Va.
RS Jason Armstead (18) Ole Miss 5-10 160 Sr. Moss Point, Miss.

SECOND-TEAM DEFENSE
P. Name School Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown
DL Kenny King (21) Alabama 6-5 277 Sr. Daphne, Ala.
DL DeMarco McNeil (18) Auburn 6-2 303 Jr. Prichard, Ala.
DL Chad Lavalais (9) LSU 6-3 270 Jr. Marksville, La.
LB Eddie Strong (31) Ole Miss 6-4 245 Sr. Batesville, Miss.
LB Tony Gilbert (16) Georgia 6-1 242 Sr. Macon, Ga.
LB Eddie Moore (11) Tennessee 6-0 220 Sr. South Pittsburg, Tenn.
LB Brooks Daniels (7) Alabama 6-2 205 Jr. Jasper, Fla.
DB Ken Hamlin (27) Arkansas 6-2 200 Jr. Memphis, Tenn.
DB Damien James (25) LSU 5-11 191 Sr. Carencro, La.
DB Josh Morgan (20) Miss. State 6-1 199 Sr. Vicksburg, Miss.
DB Rushen Jones (12) Vanderbilt 6-1 198 Sr. Memphis, Tenn.
P Damon Duval (27) Auburn 6-1 187 Sr. Chattanooga, Tenn.

SEC PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
(Tabulated on a 1-2-3-4-5-6 scale) [82 total voters]

SEC CHAMPION [There were six voters that did not have a champion selected]

Tennessee (34), Florida (17), Georgia (16), LSU (4), Ole Miss (2), South Carolina (2), Alabama (1)

Eastern Division (First Place Votes in parenthesis)
1.	Tennessee (41)			   136
2.	Georgia (19)			     175
3.	Florida (19)			     197
4.	South Carolina (3)		305
5.	Kentucky			         428
6.	Vanderbilt			       481

Western Division (First Place Votes in parenthesis)
1. LSU (43) 140
2. Alabama (24) 203
3. Ole Miss (7) 291
4. Auburn (3) 311
5. Arkansas (5) 330
6. Mississippi State 447