Yellowjacket Cagers Garner All-Conference Awards (March 11, 2003)
BILLINGS, MT – Senior Dan Thompson was named to the Pacific West
All-Conference First Team on Tuesday as selected by
the league’s coaches. Thompson led five Yellowjackets who
received recognition from the PacWest. Guard Cameron Munoz was selected as the conference’s
Freshman of the Year; senior center Kyle Stirmlinger was named to the all-conference
second team; senior guard Willy Davison earned honorable mention
all-conference honors; and sophomore Joe Cook, Davison and Thompson each were each
named to the All-Academic Team.
 Thompson,
a 6-foot-6 forward from Adelaide, South Australia,
was the PacWest’s second leading scorer at 19.1
points per game. He made 77 three-pointers and was
second in the league with 2.85 three pointers per
game. In his final two games of the season,
Thompson scored 76 total points and made 11 threes,
giving him 110 for his career. The 110
three-pointers place him 10th on the
Yellowjacket all-time career list.
Stirmlinger, a 6-11 center from
Eagan, Minnesota, was named to the PacWest
All-Conference second team. He averaged 15.2 points
and 7.7 rebounds per game and led the conference in
blocked shots at 1.74 per game. His 76 career
blocked shots place him fourth in school history.
Stirmlinger led the league in field goal percentage
for much of the season and finished the year fifth
in that category.
 Davison,
a 6-3 guard from Ballantine, Montana, earned
all-conference honorable mention honors after
leading the PacWest in assists at 6.07 per game.
Davison took over the point guard duties exclusively
in the seventh game of the season and finished with
164 assists, the ninth-best single season total in
school history. In his career, Davison had 415
assists, No. 4 in Yellowjacket history.
Munoz, a 6-3 guard from Chino,
California, was almost a unanimous choice for
freshman of the year, receiving all but one vote. He led the
PacWest with 96 three-pointers (3.69 per game),
which is an MSU Billings freshman record and the
eighth-best single season total in school history.
He connected on 43.6 percent of his three-point
attempts and is ranked fourth in the nation for
three-pointers per game and 13th for
three-point percentage.
 The
Yellowjackets comprised three of the five players on
the Academic All-Conference Team. Davison had the
second-highest GPA in the conference with a 3.74
while majoring in chemistry. Joe Cook posted a 3.68
in business and Thompson had a 3.53 in psychology.
Pacific West Conference
First Team
Name School Pos. Yr. Ht. Hometown
Alexus Foyle*# BYUH F
Sr. 6-6 Canouan, St.
Vincent
Scott Salisbury * BYUH C
Sr. 6-8 Richland, Washington
Ryan Abrahams UHH G
Jr. 6-3 Los Angeles,
California
Leon Ballard CU F
Sr. 6-5 Sacramento,
California
Dan Thompson MSUB F Sr.
6-6 Adelaide, South Australia
Pacific West Conference Second Team
Name
School Pos. Yr. Ht. Hometown
Nic Walters HPU G
Sr. 6-0 Salinas, California
Kyle Stirmlinger MSUB F
Sr. 6-11 Eagan, Minnesota
Leandro Maruoka HPU F
Sr. 6-8 Campinas, Brazil
Kyle Bartholomew+ UHH F Sr.
6-4 Hilo, Hawaii
Roy Stigall CU G
Jr. 6-0 Sacramento, California
Pacific West Conference
Honorable Mention
Skip Esene
(Hawaii-Hilo), Beau Nobmann (BYU-Hawaii), Brady Hyde
(Hawaii-Hilo), Bryon Sykes (Chaminade), Marvin Noble
(Hawaii Pacific), Willy Davison (MSU Billings), Joey
Ramirez (Western New Mexico), Nate Block (Hawaii
Pacific), Shawn Opunui (BYU-Hawaii)
#Indicates Player
of the Year last season
*Indicates first team selection last season
+Indicates second team selection last season
Pacific West Conference
All-Academic Team
Name School Major GPA Hometown
Malcolm Connor WNMU
Business 3.82 Brooklyn, New York
Willy Davison MSUB
Chemistry 3.74 Ballantine,
Montana
Joe Cook MSUB
Business 3.68 Shepherd,
Montana
Dan Thompson MSUB
Psychology 3.53 Adelaide, South
Australia
Spencer Lynn BYUH
Biology 3.42 Caldwell, Idaho |
