George Washington University Athletics
No Surprise...Monroe is MVP for 2002-03
5/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
May 8, 2003
WASHINGTON, DC - Senior Chris Monroe (Hyattsville, MD/Good Counsel) was named the Colonials' Most Valuable Player at the 2003 Men's Basketball Awards banquet Wednesday. Monroe concluded his GW career as the school's all-time leading scorer with 2,249 points in 118 games for a 19.1 points-per-game scoring average. His 720 free throws is also a school record. He was named to the A-10 All-Conference First Team in March.
Freshmen Mike Hall (Chicago, IL/Shepard) and Pops Mensah-Bonsu (London, England/St. Augustine Prep) were awarded co-Rookie of the Year honors. Mensah-Bonsu also took home the Strength & Conditioning Award. Freshman Alexander Kireev (Nikolaev, Ukraine/Evangel Christian) won the Academic Achievement Award. Hall also was given the team's Defense and Rebounding Awards. Hall's 8.2 rebounds per game led the team and was third-best in the Atlantic 10. He was a member of the 2003 A-10 All-Rookie Team.
The Colonials' sophomore point guard, T.J. Thompson (Germantown, MD/Newport) won four awards including Most Improved Player along with awards for being the team leader in steals, assists and free throw percentage. Thompson ranked 20th in Division I in assists-per-game average in the NCAA final statistics. His scoring average jumped from 9.8 ppg as a freshman to 12.6 ppg this season.
Tamal Forchion (Willingboro, NJ/Roman Catholic), who suffered a season-threatening dislocated ankle last July, was the recipient of the Desire Award given to the player who best exemplifies the work habits, hustle and motivation to help the team succeed.
GW posted a 12-17 overall record and placed fifth in the Atlantic 10 Conference West Division with a 5-11 mark.
