March 1, 1999

Providence, R.I. - Providence College's standout forward Jamel Thomas has been selected First Team All-BIG EAST in voting done by the league's coaches. The BIG EAST's leading scorer and candidate for the league's Player of the Year honors is joined on the First Team by Connecticut's Richard Hamilton, St. John's Ron Artest and Miami's Tim James and Johnny Hemsley. Hamilton and James were unanimous selections by the coaches.

For Thomas, a Second Team selection last season, it figures to be just the beginning of post season accolades. He led the league in scoring for all games with 22.1 points per game which ranks him 11th in the nation and was sixth in rebounding with 7.6 boards per contest. He finished his career ranked 14th on the league's all-time scoring list with 1,135 points in BIG EAST games. The Brooklyn native is just the eighth player in Providence College history to be named First Team All-BIG EAST. He helped Providence to a 16-12 overall record and a 9-9 league mark. The high scoring forward has left his name in the PC record books. He joins Jimmy Walker, Marvin Barnes and Joey Hassett as the four players to score 500 or more points in a season in three consecutive years. He is also one of three players in PC history to have over 1,900 points and 700 rebounds joining Marvin Barnes (1,839/1,592) and Bruce Campbell (1,809/949). The Friars' Team MVP as a junior, Thomas leads the Friars in scoring (619 points) and rebounding (208) to become just the third player in school history to lead his team in rebounding and scoring two or more years in a row. Jim Hadnot and Marvin Barnes are the others. He is third on PC's all-time scoring list with 1,929 points.

Thomas and his teammates now turn their attention to the BIG EAST Tournament and the drive for a possible NCAA Tournament berth. PC opens the BIG EAST Tournament on Wednesday, March 3rd when they face Georgetown at 7:30 p.m.

Here's a look at the 1998-99 All-BIG EAST selections:

FIRST TEAM

Richard Hamilton, Jr., Connecticut

Tim James, Sr., Miami

Jamel Thomas, Sr., Providence

Ron Artest, So., St. John's

Johnny Hemsley, Jr., Miami

SECOND TEAM

Khalid El-Amin, So., Connecticut

Troy Murphy, Fr., Notre Dame

"Bootsy" Thornton, Jr., St. John's

Etan Thomas, Jr., Syracuse

Marcus Goree, Jr., West Virginia

THIRD TEAM

Vonteego Cummings, Sr., Pittsburgh

Isaac Hawkins, Sr., Pittsburgh

Rob Hodgson, Sr., Rutgers

Jason Hart, Jr., Syracuse

John Celestand, Sr., Villanova

ALL-ROOKIE TEAM

Kevin Braswell, Fr., Georgetown

Anthony Perry, So., Georgetown

Troy Murphy, Fr., Notre Dame

Dahntay Jones, Fr., Rutgers

Erick Barkley, Fr., St. John's