Huskers Hand Out Awards at Men?s Basketball Banquet

Lincoln, Neb. --- The Nebraska men’s basketball team handed out a trio of player awards and celebrated a successful 2003-04 campaign Sunday evening at the team’s season-ending banquet at The Lodge at Wilderness Ridge. Among the awards given were: Most Outstanding Player to Nate Johnson, Best Defensive Player to Corey Simms and the Outstanding Attitude Award to Adam Bohac.

With approximately 200 supporters in attendance, Coach Barry Collier honored each class, culminating with a standing ovation for the Husker senior class of Bohac, Johnson, Brian Conklin, Andrew Drevo and Marques McCarty. The senior class helped lead Nebraska to an 18-13 record this season and its first postseason appearance in five years. The Huskers, who went 2-1 in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), including a one-point road victory at Creighton, saw a seven-game improvement this season in the win column while recording the best scoring defense (62.9 ppg) at Nebraska since 1984 and tying for the best field-goal percentage defense (40.0) since 1961. NU also set a school record by hitting 38.9 percent from three-point range and tied for the second-highest home victories with a 15-3 record at the Devaney Center.

Johnson was named the team’s MVP by his peers after leading the Huskers with 13.0 points per game while hitting an impressive 46.9 percent from the field and 41.0 percent from three-point range. The Kansas City, Kan., native led the team in free throws made (103) and attempted (119) for 86.6 percent from the charity stripe, among the best in the nation. Johnson, who was second on the squad with 4.6 rebounds per game, was the only player in the Big 12 Conference to rank among the top 15 in the league standings in field-goal, three-point field-goal and free throw percentage during the regular season.

Simms earned the team’s top defensive player honor for the second straight season. The junior from St. Louis, Mo., started 13 games while adding 4.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game and hit 45.4 percent from the field. Simms was one of four Huskers to record at least 20 steals this season and helped Nebraska hold 20 opponents to 65 or fewer points in a game.

Bohac joined Simms as a repeat winner by being selected by his teammates for the team’s best attitude award for the second straight season. A four-year letterman as a walk-on, Bohac played in 11 contests this season including making his only career start against Iowa State at home on Senior Day. Bohac was the leader of the scout team each of the past three seasons, helping prepare the Huskers for competition every week while providing guidance and leadership through his actions.