Nov. 15, 2001

St. Louis - Saint Louis University national Player of the Year candidate Dipsy Selolowane (Gaborone, Botswana) received Conference USA's Player of the Year award last night at the league's postseason tournament banquet on the campus of the University of South Florida in Tampa. First-year Billikens head coach Dan Donigan was honored as Coach of the Year, and senior sweeper Marty Tappel (Lexington, Ky. / Henry Clay) earned the Defensive Player of the Year award.

With Selolwane and Tappel, the Billikens placed six players on C-USA's first-team All-Conference - Hermann Trophy candidate Brad Davis (St. Charles, Mo. / Chaminade), senior midfielder Mike Hill (Arlington Heights, Ill. / Hersey), junior defender Jason Cole (Kansas City, Mo. / Rockhurst), and senior goalkeeper John Politis (Roslyn, N.Y. / Herricks).

"This recognition is gratifying for everyone, but our people understand that team accomplishments are far more important than individual accolades, and we still have team goals to reach," Billikens head coach Dan Donigan said. "Dipsy and Brad have received a tremendous amount of attention this year, but Marty Tappel has been performing outside the spotlight as the key contributor to our defensive success all season."

Donigan has led the third-ranked Billikens to a 14-1-0 record overall and to C-USA's regular-season championship with a 9-1-0 league mark. The Billikens 10-0-0 start to the season was Saint Louis' best since the 1971 Billikens began 17-0-0. The Bills' regular-season mark is their best since the 1991 national semifinalists entered the postseason with a 16-1-2 record.

Selolwane's 43 points (20G, 3A) is the Billikens' best total since 1995 national Player of the Year Matt McKeon compiled 54. His 20 goals is the best by a Billiken since 1993 first-team All-American Brian McBride popped in 24. He leads the nation in goals per game at 1.33. Tappel is the central defender in C-USA's top defensive unit that has posted a 0.73 goals against average.

Davis is C-USA's fourth-leading scorer with 26 points (8G, 10A) leads C-USA in assists and ranks second nationally in goals per game at 0.71. Hill set a personal single-season high with eight points (1G, 6A). Cole leads the Bills' backliners with 13 shots and defends the opposition's top offensive threat in every match. Politis is the Billikens' all-time goals against average leader at 0.62 and is ranked 18th nationally this season with a 0.76 GAA.

Junior forward Jack Jewsbury (Springfield, Mo. / Kickapoo) and senior midfielder David Beck (St. Louis, Mo. / SLUH) were named second-team All-Conference. The Billikens' third-leading scorer, Jewsbury has collected 18 points in 12 games since recovering from a lacerated foot in August. Beck is tied for second on the club with six assists.

Junior defender/midfielder Mike Kirchhoff (Fenton, Mo. / Vianney) is a third-team All-Conference selection. Kirchhoff is the Billikens' top-scoring defender with six points (2G, 2A) and filled the void when preseason All-Conference defender Joe Hammes was forced to miss the entire regular season after thigh surgery.

The top-seeded Billikens play in the semifinals of the C-USA tournament tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 p.m. (CT). Charlotte and Cincinnati square off today in the quarterfinal round to earn the right to play Saint Louis.

2001 C-USA FIRST-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE 
F - Jason Cudjoe, South Florida
F - Sean Fraser, Memphis
 F - Dipsy Selolwane, Saint Louis 
 MF - Brad Davis, Saint Louis 
 MF - Mike Hill, Saint Louis 
MF - Sean Reti, Marquette
MF - Jeff Thwaites, South Florida
B - Adrian Cann, Louisville
 B - Jason Cole, Saint Louis 
 B - Marty Tappel, Saint Louis 
 GK - John Politis, Saint Louis 

 SECOND-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE 
 F - Jack Jewsbury, Saint Louis 
F - Flavio Monteiro, UAB
F - Martin Rey, UAB
 MF - David Beck, Saint Louis 
MF - Nelson Mata, UAB
MF - Marin Pusek, UAB
MF - Justin Stralka, Memphis
B - Steve Lawrence, Marquette
B - Brantley Spillman, UAB
B - Jared Vock, South Florida
GK - Lucas Mackanos, Charlotte

 THIRD-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE 
F - Simon Bird, Louisville
F - Juan Munoz-Airey, Charlotte
F - Lars Thorstensen, Memphis
MF - Nick Baker, TCU
 MF - Mike Kirchhoff, Saint Louis 
MF - Bryan Godfrey, Marquette
MF - Gabriel Salgado, South Florida
B - Shane Carew, Charlotte
B - Stephen Lewis, Memphis
B - Bubba Garcia, UAB
GK - Troy Perkins, South Florida
GK - Clint Baumstark, UAB