September 27, 2000

GREENVILLE -- Furman University sophomore forward Karim Souchu (SUE-shoe) has been named Southern Conference Pre-Season Player-of-the-Year by the Basketball News, it was announced today.

Souchu, a 6-foot-7 product of Paris, France, averaged a team leading 15.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game as a freshman a year ago on the way to earning third team all-conference honors and conference tournament first team accolades. His 15.8 scoring average was the highest by a Paladin freshman since George Singleton averaged 16.1 ppg for the 1980-81 season.

"Pre-season honors are nice and I'm happy to see Karim receiving some much-deserved recognition after a fine freshman year, but what is more important are post-season honors because they are based on what you've accomplished," said Furman head coach Larry Davis Wednesday afternoon.

Furman returns eight lettermen and four starters off last year's team that posted a 14-18 record and Southern Conference Tournament semifinal finish.