Cochran Selected For Big 12 All-Star Team

Dallas - Upperclassmen highlight the Big 12's second 12-member men's basketball all-star team which will tour Europe in August, 2000.

Under the direction of Colorado head coach Ricardo Patton, the Big 12 All-Star Team will consist of one player from each conference school. The 2000 all-stars have nine upperclassmen including six seniors. Among the group is first-team All-Big 12 performer Jamaal Tinsley of Iowa State and Big 12 Freshman of the Year Bernard King of Texas A&M from the 1999-2000 season.

The Big 12 All-Stars will report to Dallas August 5 and practice for two days prior to their journey overseas August 7. The team will play six games in Austria and Slovakia and return August 18.

"This is a great opportunity to take the best players in the Big 12 overseas to compete and represent the Big 12 and the U.S.," said Patton who is 75-62 since taking over as interim head coach at CU Jan. 13, 1996, and has guided the Buffs to postseason play three of the past four years. "We are really looking forward to the experience."

Tinsley is one of four players on the team who averaged double digits in scoring last season. The senior, who was a member of the Big 12 All-Newcomer team last year, averaged 11.0 ppg and was second in the conference in assists (6.59) and in steals (2.65) in being one of the forces in Iowa State's Big 12 championship and NCAA Tournament Elite Eight season. Joining Tinsley from the 1999-2000 all-newcomer team is Baylor all-star Terry Black who led the league in steals at 2.66. An honorable mention All-Big 12 selection last season, Black averaged 11.2 ppg and his 7.7 rpg were seventh among league leaders. The senior is also the only player in Big 12 history to be named league rookie of the week and player of the week during the same season.

Other seniors on the team include Missouri's Brian Grawer, Oklahoma's Nolan Johnson, Kansas' Luke Axtell, and Texas Tech's Cliff Owens. Grawer led the Big 12 and was 14th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (46.9) following the 1998-99 season. The two-time Academic All-Big 12 guard averaged 7.4 ppg last season for the Tigers. Johnson, a guard/forward, started 31 of 34 games for Oklahoma's 2000 NCAA Tournament squad where he averaged 10.0 ppg and 5.1 rpg including 10.5 ppg and 5.3 rpg in conference games.

Axtell averaged 8.6 points in 20 games for Kansas last year. A three-point sharp shooting guard/forward transfer from Texas following the 1997-98 season, Axtell was honorable mention All-Big 12 and a member of the league's all-freshmen team in 1997-98. Owens was a medical reshirt last season after coming off ankle surgery. The forward, who started 48 games between his sophomore and junior years, averaged 10.4 ppg and 7.0 rpg in being named to the Big 12 All-Underrated team following the 1998-99 campaign.

Texas forward Chris Owens headlines the juniors on the Big 12 All-Star squad. A force inside, Owens was a member of the league's all-bench and all-newcomer teams following 1999-2000 where he averaged 9.4 ppg and 5.6 rpg. Nebraska junior guard Cary Cochran started 11 games for the Huskers and is a long-range threat averaging 2.14 three-pointers last season with a 38.7 three-point shooting percentage. Colorado junior forward D.J. Harrison is no stranger to Patton's program where he was a redshirt last season after transferring from Aquinas (Tenn.) College. Harrison averaged 16.2 ppg and 9.8 rpg during 1998-99 at Aquinas.

King will enter the 2000-01 season as the league's leading returning scorer with a 16.9 ppg last year which was eighth overall. The two-time Big 12 Rookie of the Week was a member of the league's all-freshmen team last year and broke many conference freshmen records including scoring average (16.9), points (474), three-pointers made per game (2.82), and points in a game (34 vs. Colorado).

Rounding out the sophomore all-stars are Kansas State's Quentin Buchanan and Oklahoma State's Andre Williams. Buchanan had all seven of his season's starts in Big 12 play last year and averaged 18.2 minutes in 28 overall appearances. He also averaged 4.5 ppg and 3.1 rpg his rookie season. Williams averaged 11.8 minutes, 3.5 ppg and 4.1 rpg in 28 games played for a senior-laden Cowboys' squad which reached the Elite Eight of the 2000 NCAA Tournament.

This is the second men's basketball all-star team from the Big 12. Texas Tech head coach James Dickey guided the first Big 12 All-Stars to a 4-2 record in August 1998 while touring London, Paris, Belgium, and Germany.

2000 Big 12 All-Star Team

					'99-00	'99-00
Name, School	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Cl-Exp	Ppg	Rpg	Hometown (Previous Schools)
Terry Black, Baylor	F	6-5	215	Sr-1L	11.2	7.7	Milwaukee, Wis. (Indian Hills [Iowa] CC)
^D.J. Harrison, Colorado	F	6-7	220	Jr-TR	^16.2	^9.8	Nashville, Tenn. (Martin Luther King/Aquinas [Tenn.] College)
Jamaal Tinsley, Iowa State	G	6-3	175	Sr-1L	11.0	5.1	Brooklyn, N.Y. (Tilden/Mount San Jacinto [Calif.] CC)
Luke Axtell, Kansas	G/F	6-10	220	Sr-1L	8.6	2.8	Austin, Texas (Westlake/U. of Texas)
Quentin Buchanan, KSU	G/F	6-7	195	So-1L	4.5	3.1	Junction City, Kan.
Brian Grawer, Missouri	G	6-0	165	Sr-3L	7.4	2.8	St. Louis, Mo. (Pattonville)
Cary Cochran, Nebraska	G	6-1	185	Jr-2L	7.9	2.5	Minden, Iowa (Neola-Tri Center)
Nolan Johnson, Oklahoma	G/F	6-4	215	Sr-1L	10.0	5.1	Brooklyn, N.Y. (Kilgore [Texas] JC)
Andre Williams, OSU	F	6-9	220	So-1L	3.5	4.1	Kansas City, Kan. (Schlagle/Maine Cent. Institute)
Chris Owens, Texas	F	6-8	237	Jr-1L	9.4	5.6	Duncanville, Texas (Tulane)
Bernard King, Texas A&M	G	6-3	178	So-1L	16.9	4.8	Gibsland, La. (Coleman)
^Cliff Owens, Texas Tech	F	6-8	235	Sr-3L	^10.4	^7.0	Santa Fe, Texas

^Statistics are from the 1998-99 season. Harrison and Owens were redshirts in 1999-2000. Harrison's stats are from Aquinas (Tenn.) College.

Head Coach: Ricardo Patton, Colorado Assistant Coach: Dave Moe, Colorado Tour Host: Scott Woltzen, Woltzen Sports Tours Trainer: Sean Willeford, Colorado Media Relations: Brad Sutton, Colorado Big 12 Representative: Kim Anderson, Director of Basketball Operations