Aug. 5, 2002

LAS VEGAS - UNLV men's basketball student-athletes Louis Amundson, Marcus Banks and Omari Pearson have all earned a spot on the 2001-02 Academic All-Mountain West Conference team for men's basketball, the conference announced Monday.

To be eligible for selection to the academic team, a student-athlete must have completed at least one academic term at the member institution, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better and be a starter or significant contributor to the team.

Amundson, a 6-7 forward, has a 3.39 cumulative GPA. He appeared in 30 games last year as a freshman, averaging 2.8 points and 2.3 rebounds in 10.5 minutes per game.

Banks, a 6-1 guard, is a sociology major with a 3.11 cumulative GPA. As a junior last season, he was named the MWC's Defensive Player of the Year and to the All-MWC second team. The two-time MWC Player of the Week started 31 games and averaged 15.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.2 steals per game.

Pearson, a 6-8 forward, has a 3.30 cumulative GPA. As a sophomore last season, he appeared in all of the team's 32 games, starting 13 of them. He averaged 3.6 points and 2.8 rebounds for the year.

A three-year high of 18 student-athletes earned MWC academic honors in 2001-02, including seven repeat selections. BYU and Utah shared the league-high with five student-athletes each, while UNLV was close behind with three honorees. UNLV's three members is the most the program has earned in one year since joining the MWC. San Diego State placed two members on the list, while Colorado State, New Mexico and Wyoming each had one.

Following is a list of the 2001-02 Men's Basketball Academic All-MWC selections grouped alphabetically by school.

Name                           School  Class   GPA MajorJames Balderson             BYU Fr. 3.16    ManagementJon Carlisle                BYU So. 3.15    Open-majorJared Jensen                BYU Fr. 3.17    Open-Major*Matt Montague              BYU Sr. 3.05    Public Relations*Eric Nielsen               BYU Sr. 3.19    Civil Engineering*Brian Greene               CSU Jr. 3.26    Business AdministrationJamaal Williams             UNM Fr. 3.02    Undeclared*Karlo Kovacic              SDSU    Sr. 3.94    International Business*Chris Walton               SDSU    So. 3.13    BusinessLouis Amundson             UNLV    Fr. 3.39    UndeclaredMarcus Banks             UNLV    Jr. 3.11    SociologyOmari Pearson               UNLV    So. 3.30    Undeclared*Lance Allred               Utah    So. 3.12    Finance*Trace Caton                Utah    Jr. 3.73    HistoryNick Jacobson               Utah    So. 3.10    BusinessMartin Osimani              Utah    Fr. 3.14    UndeclaredEric Osmundson              Utah    Fr. 3.35    BiologyUche Nsonwu-Amadi           Wyoming Jr. 3.09    Computer Science

* notes repeat selection