2003-04 Purdue Athletes of the Year in PDF Format
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June 11, 2004
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - John Standeford and Shereka Wright have been named Purdue's 2003-04 Athletes of the Year. Both will be in contention for Big Ten Athlete of the Year honors.
Standeford, a second team All-Big Ten selection, enjoyed a banner season for the 9-4 Boilermaker football team. The 6-foot-4 wide receiver from Monrovia, Ind., caught 77 passes for 1,150 yards. The efforts in both categories catapulted him into first place in Big Ten history, with 266 career receptions and 3,788 receiving yards.
Standeford amassed 100 yards receiving in five games to tie for the third most in a single season in school history. He ranked second in the Big Ten and 21st nationally with an average of 88.5 yards per game. His 5.9 receptions per game ranked third in the conference and 28th in the nation.
A two-time first team Academic All-American, Standeford received the Woody Hayes National Scholar-Athlete Award for excellence in academics, athletics and community service. He also received Purdue's Big Ten Sportsmanship and Kiwanis Citizenship awards.
Wright, a 5-foot-10 forward from Copperas Cove, Texas, earned first team Wooden All-America honors after averaging 20.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game for the 29-4 Boilermaker women's basketball team. A finalist for the Wade Trophy, Naismith and Senior CLASS awards, Wright was a unanimous first team All-Big Ten pick. She took home the conference scoring crown, averaging 21.4 points per league game.
Wright reached double figures in all 33 games, including a 34-point performance at Iowa on Feb. 10. She averaged 20.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists in Purdue's march to its second straight Big Ten Tournament championship. Wright hit two clutch free throws with less than five seconds remaining in a 59-58 title victory against Penn State on March 8. Not surprisingly, she garnered tournament Most Valuable Player honors for the second year in a row.
A member of the Big Ten's all-time winningest class, with a four-year record of 113-23, Wright finished her Purdue career ranked first in free throw makes and attempts, second in points, second in games played, third in minutes played, fourth in rebounds, sixth in blocked shots, and sixth in games started.
Wright already has moved on to the professional ranks. Selected by the Phoenix Mercury with the last pick in the first round of the 2004 WNBA Draft, Wright currently is averaging 4.7 points and 1.4 rebounds in 14.0 minutes per game. Standeford, meanwhile, has signed as a free agent with the Washington Redskins.
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