March 11, 2005

WACO, Texas - Baylor's Aaron Bruce received two more prominent honors published Thursday, the same day his freshman season ended at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. Bruce was an All-District 7 selection by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) and was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year by the San Antonio Express-News.

Bruce is Baylor's fourth USBWA All-District 7 selection in as many years, joining Terrance Thomas (2004) and Lawrence Roberts (2002, 2003). The team is made up of the top college players in the states of Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.

The conference freshman of the year honor is Bruce's third; he was previously named the top freshman by the Kansas City Star and ESPN's Dick Vitale.

The 6-3 guard, who entered the Big 12 Tournament as the nation's leading freshman scorer and the second-highest scorer in the Big 12 at 18.4 points per game, also earned multiple All-Big 12 and Freshman All-America honors earlier this week. A complete listing of Bruce's end-of-season awards follows:

HONORS FOR BAYLOR GUARD Aaron Bruce:
Freshman All-America, 2nd team (rivals.com)
Freshman All-America (CollegeInsider.com)
All-Big 12, 3rd team (AP)
All-Big 12, 3rd team (K.C. Star)
All-Big 12, 3rd team (Lawrence Journal-World)
Big 12 Freshman of the Year (K.C. Star)
Big 12 Freshman of the Year (S.A. Express-News)
Big 12 Diaper Dandy of the Year (ESPN.com, Dick Vitale)
All-Big 12, honorable mention (coaches)
Big 12 All-Freshman team (media)

USBWA ALL-DISTRICT 7 TEAM (Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana)
Brandon Bass, LSU
Ronnie Brewer, Arkansas
Aaron Bruce, Baylor
Brad Buckman, Texas
Michael Harris, Rice
Bryan Hopkins, SMU
Paul Millsap, Louisiana Tech
Ronald Ross, Texas Tech
Omar Thomas, UTEP
Antoine Wright, Texas A&M
District Player of the Year: Ronald Ross, Texas Tech
District Coach of the Year: Billy Gillespie, Texas A&M