April 16, 2003

ARLINGTON, Texas...The University of Texas at Arlington's men's basketball team placed three of its members on the five-man Southland Conference All-Academic Team, the league announced Wednesday. UTA senior Josh Daniel and juniors Donny Beacham and Roy Johnson were each named to the team, along with Nicholls State senior forward Damien Lennon and Stephen F. Austin junior guard Jasen Gast.

Josh Daniel earned his fourth major academic award Wednesday

Daniel has been racking up academic awards since the end of the season. Last month, Daniel was named the SLC's men's basketball Student-Athlete of the Year, and he has also been named to the NCAA Division I-AAA Athletic Directors' Academic All-American Team and the Verizon Academic All-District VI Team. Daniel, the team's starting point guard, held the league's second highest assist average in 2002-03, dishing out 4.6 assists per game. He averaged 5.9 points and 2.7 rebounds per game while serving as the team's co-captain with fellow senior Mack Callier. Before coming to UTA, Daniel earned the National Junior College Athletic Association's highest academic honor, the Distinguished Academic All-American Award. The public relations major owns a 3.74 grade point average at UTA.

Beacham was one of the Mavericks' top reserves in 2002-03. He averaged 4.4 points and 3.7 rebounds per game and served as the team's primary defensive stopper, often guarding the oppenents' top offensive threat, regardless of position. He scored a career high 17 points off the bench in UTA's 71-59 victory over Texas-San Antonio. In 2001-02, Beacham was named to the Verizon Academic All-District VI squad. His senior class valedictorian at Madison High School in Dallas in 2000, Beacham owns a 3.49 grade point average as an information systems major.

Roy Johnson adds Academic All-SLC honors to his All-SLC playing award

Johnson became one of the conference's premier centers this past season, averaging 11.1 points and 5.9 rebounds per game while, like Daniel, starting all 29 of UTA's games. He also led the Mavericks with 16 blocked shots. Johnson shot 49.8 percent from the floor in 2002-03, the eighth best mark in the conference, while shooting 78.3 percent from the free throw line, sixth best in the league. For his efforts, Johnson was named to the All-SLC second team. The business administration major owns a 3.27 grade point average.

The Mavericks finished the 2002-03 season with a 16-13 overall record, including a 13-7 record in SLC play to finish third in the league standings. Maybe more impressively, the overall team 2.92 grade point average in the fall, 2002 semester was the highest in team history.

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