April 14, 2000

LAS VEGAS - The UNLV men's basketball team honored 11 members of its 1999-2000 squad and five members of the 1998-99 team at its awards banquet at the Las Vegas Hilton on Friday. The banquet was the first for the program since the 1997-98 season and honored players from both of the last two seasons.

Senior point guard Mark Dickel was named the 2000 Arthur Newman Most Valuable Player after leading the nation in assists and quarterbacking his team to a Mountain West Conference Tournament title and a NCAA Tournament berth. Dickel was also presented awards as the MWC Tournament MVP, second team All-MWC and the 1999 Playmaker Award.

The 1999 Arthur Newman Most Valuable Player Award was also announced at the banquet and went to former Rebel Shawn Marion.

Junior Kaspars Kambala was awarded the team's Outstanding Rebounder Award for both 1999 and 2000, and received recognition for his selection to the All-MWC first team and the MWC All-Tournament team.

A complete list of the honors follows:

1999-2000 Awards

Arthur Newman Most Valuable Player Award: Mark Dickel
Outstanding Rebounder Award: Kaspars Kambala
Academic Award: Chris Popoola
Most Improved Award: Sylvester Dotson & Chris Richardson
Coaches Leadership Award: Vince Booker & Donovan Stewart
Defensive Player Award: Trevor Diggs
Sixth-Man Award: Danny Brotherson
Unsung Hero Award: Issiah Epps
Versatility Award: Dalron Johnson
MWC Co-Freshman of the Year: Dalron Johnson
All-MWC, First Team: Kaspars Kambala
All-MWC, Second Team: Mark Dickel
All-MWC, Newcomer Team: Trevor Diggs & Dalron Johnson
MWC Tournament MVP: Mark Dickel
MWC All-Tournament Team: Kaspars Kambala & Dalron Johnson

1998-99 Awards

Arthur Newman Most Valuable Player: Shawn Marion
Outstanding Rebounder Award: Kaspars Kambala
Coaches Leadership Award: Brian Keefe
Clutch Player Award: Kevin Simmons
Playmaker Award: Mark Dickel