Boston College Athletics
Bell, Smith Earn All-BIG EAST Honors
March 10, 2003 | Men's Basketball
March 10, 2003
Boston College senior guard Troy Bell earned All-BIG EAST first team honors and freshman teammate Craig Smith captured All-Conference second team honors and All-Rookie Team accolades, according to an announcement made by the league office. The selections are made by a vote of the league's 14 head coaches.
For Bell, the 2002-03 season marks the third consecutive year in which he's earned first-team honors. He is the 10th player in league history to earn first-team recognition three times. BC's Danya Abrams was the last player to achieve this feat (1995-97).
Joining Bell on the first team were Emeka Okafor of Connecticut, Mike Sweetney of Georgetown, Matt Carroll of Notre Dame, Marcus Hatten of St. John's and Carmelo Anthony of Syracuse.
Joining Smith on the second team were Ben Gordon of Connecticut, Chris Thomas of Notre Dame, Brandin Knight of Pittsburgh, Ryan Gomes of Providence and Andre Barrett of Seton Hall.
Smith was joined on the All-Rookie Team by Torin Francis of Notre Dame, Donnie McGrath of Providence, Kelly Whitney of Seton Hall, Gerry McNamara of Syracuse, Kevin Pittsnogle of West Virginia and Anthony of Syracuse.
Bell won the league scoring title, finishing with a 27.8 ppg average in conference contests. His league scoring average set a BIG EAST single-season record, shattering the 27.4 ppg mark set by Seton Hall's Dan Callandrillo in 1981-82. Bell also leads all conference players with a 25.9 ppg average in all games. He led the Eagles to a 17-10 overall record, including a 10-6 mark in conference play. The Eagles earned a share of the East Division regular-season title, the program's second title in three seasons and fifth overall.
Smith enters the BIG EAST Championship Tournament averaging 19.6 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. He leads the BIG EAST Conference with a .588 field goal percentage in all games. In league contests, he ranks among BIG EAST leaders in field-goal percentage (third), rebounding (seventh) and scoring (10th).
Smith is the 11th Eagle to earn a spot on the All-Rookie Team and the first since Bell in 1999-2000.
Boston College, which earned the East Division's top seed for the conference tournament, returns to action on Thursday, March 13 against the winner of Wednesday's first-round game between St. John's and Notre Dame. Game time on Thursday is noon in Madison Square Garden.
