March 13, 2001

Champaign, IL - After leading Illinois to a Co-Big Ten Championship and #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament's Midwest Region, sophomore point guard Frank Williams (Peoria, Ill./Manual HS) has been named a Third-Team All-American by the Associated Press. Williams becomes the first Illini athlete to earn All-America honors since Kendall Gill was a Third-Team All-American by the AP in 1990.

"This is a great honor for Frank and a feather in the cap of the Illinois program," said Illinois Head Coach Bill Self. He is certainly deserving of being recognized as an All-American, and, as just a sophomore, it's terrific to be known as one of the premier players in America. He sacrificed his statistics a lot this season for the good of the team, and it's evident that people around the nation are aware of how great a player he is."

On the season Williams leads the Illini in scoring (14.9 points per game), assists (128) and steals (59). His average of 15.7 points in conference games ranked sixth in the league. He also ranked third in steals (1.8 avg.), seventh in assists (3.9 avg.), 11th in free throw percentage (.789), and 15th in field goal percentage (.446) in league play. Williams has been Illinois' leading scorer in 13 games and is averaging 19.4 points per game against Top 25 competition. He was named the Big Ten Player of the Year last week by both the media and conference coaches.

"It feels good to be a part of a team with all these great players from around the country," Williams said. "But, you need to take this honor in stride, and its more of a positive reflection of our entire team."

FIRST TEAM
Shane Battier, Duke, 6-8, 220, senior, 19.5 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 2.1 steals (70 first-place votes, 353 total points)
Jason Williams, Duke, 6-2, 196, sophomore, 20.8, ppg, 6.2 apg, 1.9 steals (61, 335)
Joseph Forte, North Carolina, 6-4, 185, sophomore, 21.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 3.6 apg, 2.0 steals (61, 332)
Troy Murphy, Notre Dame, 6-10, 237, junior, 22.0 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 36.1 minutes (55, 312)
Casey Jacobsen, Stanford, 6-6, 210, sophomore, 18.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, .504 fg pct., .466 3-pt pct., .804 ft pct. (35, 259)

SECOND TEAM
Jamaal Tinsley, Iowa State, 6-3, 195, senior, 14.5 ppg, 6.0 apg, 2.5 steals (27, 246)
Troy Bell, Boston College, 6-1, 171, sophomore, 20.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 4.2 apg, 2.7 steals, .858 ft pct. (8, 150)
Jason Richardson, Michigan State, 6-6, 220, sophomore, 15.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg, .529 fg pct. (7, 133)
Michael Bradley, Villanova, 6-10, 245, junior, 21.4 ppg, 10.1 rpg, .693 fg pct, 1.9 blocks (6, 120)
Tayshaun Prince, Kentucky, 6-9, 215, junior, 16.5 ppg, 6.6 rpg, .832 ft pct. (5, 117)

THIRD TEAM
Frank Williams, Illinois, 6-3, 205, sophomore, 14.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.3 apg, 2.0 steals (4, 89)
Michael Wright, Arizona, 6-7, 238, junior, 16.4 ppg, 8.2 rpg, .591 fg pct. (1, 72)
Charlie Bell, Michigan State, 6-3, 200, senior, 13.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 5.4 apg (1, 59)
Udonis Haslem, Florida, 6-7, 260, junior, 16.6 ppg, 7.3 rpg, .598 fg pct. (1, 56)
Kirk Haston, Indiana, 6-10, 230, junior, 18.7 ppg, 8.7 rpg (1, 53)

HONORABLE MENTION
Gilbert Arenas, Arizona, Craig Austin, Columbia, Cory Bradford, Illinois, Tarise Bryson, Illinois State, Torrey Butler, Coastal Carolina, Casey Calvary, Gonzaga.

Jarron Collins, Stanford, Jason Collins, Stanford, Juan Dixon, Maryland, Teddy Dupay, Florida, Marvin Ely, Fresno State, George Evans, George Mason.

Reggie Evans, Iowa, Jason Gardner, Arizona, Kenny Gregory, Kansas, Jerry Green, UC Irvine, Eddie Griffin, Seton Hall, Trenton Hassell, Austin Peay.

Brendan Haywood, North Carolina, Brian Heinle, Cal State-Northridge, Dewayne Jefferson, Mississippi Valley State, Joe Johnson, Arkansas, Ken Johnson, Ohio State, Rahsaan Johnson, Monmouth.

Jason Kapono, UCLA, Sean Lampley, California, Steve Logan, Cincinnati, Shernard Long, Georgia State, Jody Lumpkin, College of Charleston, Demond Mallet, McNeese State.

Chris Marcus, Western Kentucky, Ronnie McCollum, Centenary, Jeff Monaco, Southern Utah, Terence Morris, Maryland, Brett Nelson, Florida, Rashad Phillips, Detroit.

Norman Richardson, Hofstra, Kareem Rush, Missouri, Preston Shumpert, Syracuse, Demond Stewart, Niagara, Tim Szatko, Holy Cross, David Webber, Central Michigan.

Mekeli Wesley, Brigham Young, David West, Xavier, Rodney White, Charlotte, Tarvis Williams, Hampton, Loren Woods, Arizona.