Oct. 24, 2003

LAS VEGAS - UNLV junior Gary Cook has been added to the watch list for the 2003 Ray Guy Award, which is annually given to the nation's top punter.

The Greater Augusta Sports Council announced the closing Friday of the watch list, which now includes 44 candidates.

Cook currently ranks second in the league and 18th in the nation with an average of 43.6 yards per attempt, with a career-long of 66. The native of Truckee, Calif., has placed 16 of his 53 kicks inside the opponents' 20-yard-line this fall.

He earned his second career Mountain West Conference Special Teams Player of the Week Award on Sept. 15 after an outstanding day of kicking as part of UNLV's upset victory at Wisconsin. The field for the Ray Guy Award will be narrowed to 10 semi-finalists early next month. In late November a national voting committee will select the three finalists, who will travel to Orlando for the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Dec. 11.

Further, the Ray Guy Award winner will be invited to Augusta, Ga., for a two-day celebration, including the Greater Augusta Sports Awards Gala, the Ray Guy Kicking & Punting Academy and community appearances.