LUBBOCK, Texas –– A nationwide panel of voters named Alex Gordon of the University of Nebraska the winner of the 2005 Brooks Wallace Award and gave the Kansas City Royals’ draftee a clean sweep of the season’s top player awards.

The Brooks Wallace Award is presented annually by the College Baseball Foundation to the National Player of the Year in NCAA Division I baseball. It is the only award that accounts for the full season of collegiate play, including all post-season competition. The CBF National Selection Committee is comprised of coaches, writers, broadcasters, sports information directors and former winners who follow the game closely.

The presentation was made Thursday night at a sold-out banquet at United Spirit Arena in Lubbock. The program will be broadcast on Fox Sports Southwest on Monday, July 4 at 8 p.m. (CDT).

By winning the Brooks Wallace Award, Gordon becomes a consensus Player of the Year choice for 2005, winning the third leg of the Triple Crown of major awards for a college baseball player. Gordon previously was named the winner of the Dick Howser Award by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association for his outstanding play during the regular season. He also earned the Golden Spikes Award from USA Baseball as the nation’s top amateur player over the past year, which included leading Team USA to 2004 FISU World University Championship.

Gordon also was the first college player taken in the Major League Draft as the Kansas City Royals selected him second overall.

Gordon earned the honor over two other finalists, pitchers Luke Hochevar of the University of Tennessee and Lance Broadway of Texas Christian University.

Gordon started all 69 games this season in leading the Cornhuskers (56-13) three games deep into the College World Series. The junior third baseman finished the season with a .372 batting average, 19 home runs and 66 runs batted in. He also hit 22 doubles, stole 23 bases in 26 attempts, and had a .715 slugging percentage.

The Brooks Wallace Award is dedicated to the memory of the former Texas Tech player and assistant coach, who was a slick-fielding shortstop at Texas Tech from 1977 to 1980. A four-year starter, he was named All-Southwest Conference and All-District Six his senior year, when he led the Red Raiders to their first-ever appearance in the Southwest Conference Tournament. After playing two years in the Texas Rangers organization, he returned to Texas Tech and served as a graduate assistant, and later as an assistant coach. In the summer of 1984 he was diagnosed with cancer and fought the disease courageously until his death on March 24, 1985, at age 27. The Plano, Texas, native was married to the former Sandy Arnold and they had one daughter, Lindsay Ryan.

Kurt Suzuki of Cal State Fullerton won the 2004 Brooks Wallace Award, and the awards’ lineage includes former Player of the Year winners Andy Benes, Ben McDonald, Mike Kelly, Bobby Jones, Mike Smith, Darren Dreifort, Jason Varitek, Mark Kotsay, Kris Benson, Lance Berkman, Brad Wilkerson and Jason Jennings.

The one-hour Brooks Wallace Award presentation debuts on Fox Sports Southwest, on Monday, July 4th at 8 p.m. (CDT), it will be carried nationally by FSN affiliates such as Sun Network, Fox Sports Southeast, FSN Arizona, FSN Northwest and FSN West, and Fox College Sports networks (Atlantic, Central and Pacific) throughout July. Please check your local listings.

1. Lance Broadway, TCU
2. Alex Gordon, Nebraska
3. Luke Hochevar, Tennessee

Finalists' Stats
in Word / in Acrobat

The 2005 Wallace Award Ceremony will be broadcasted nationally on FOX Sports Southwest at 8PM Central on Monday, July 4, 2005. It will be carried on other FOX Sports affiliates throughout July, so check your local listings for exact dates and times.

1. Broadway Show
   Article on TCU pitcher Lance Broadway, 2005 Wallace Award Finalist
   George Watson, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal



2. Cool Hand Luke
   Article on Tennessee pitcher Luke Hochevar, 2005 Wallace Award Finalist
   George Watson, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal



3. Husker's Hero
   Article on Nebraska 3B Alex Gordon, 2005 Wallace Award Finalist
   George Watson, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

You must register with the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal to view these articles

Jerry Kindall has been both a player and coach on the highest stage... In 1956, Kindall was an All-American shortstop on the University of Minnesota NCAA National Championship team that beat Arizona in the College World Series title game…He still remains the last player in CWS history to hit for the cycle…as a professional, he played eight years as an infielder in the Big Leagues with the Cubs, Cleveland Indians and Minnesota—playing with Harmon Killebrew and Tony Oliva on the 1965 American League Champion Twins his last year before retiring. After a stint as head coach at his alma mater, Kindall left for the University of Arizona, where he coached the Wildcats to 3 National Championships in 1976, 1980 and 1986. After 24 years, five trips to Omaha, and three national "Coach of the Year" Awards, Jerry retired in 1996 as the winningest coach in the history of the University of Arizona with 861 victories. Today the college diamond in Tucson bears the name Jerry Kindall Field. Kindall has touched all segments of the game, serving as Head Coach of TEAM USA, and presently serves on the Executive Committee as Senior Advisor for USA Baseball. He is on the Board of Directors for the American Baseball Coaches Association (which he was inducted as a Hall of Fame member), along with also broadcasting college baseball for Fox Sports Network, as well as ESPN television.

Bill Land is one of the most recognizable voices and faces in Big 12 Conference broadcasting. He is the host of FSN's BIG 12 SHOWCASE, the conference's weekly magazine show, and the play-by-play voice of numerous Big 12 games and championship events telecast on FSN. Since the inception of the conference in 1996, Land has delivered FSN's play-by-play call of college football, women's basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, and swimming and diving. In addition to his Big 12 duties, Land also is part of FSN Southwest's San Antonio Spurs and Texas Rangers broadcast teams. Land is one of FSN Southwest's most versatile announcers, having called 16 different sports since joining the network in 1988 when it was known as Home Sports Entertainment.

Greg Lucas has served a variety of roles for FSN. During an announcing career that began in 1972, he has called more than 2,000 events in 28 different sports ranging from Major League Baseball to yacht racing off the coast of Hawaii. Since 1999 Lucas has been a field level commentator on FSNSW Houston Astros home game telecasts. He also is a special correspondent on the network's SOUTHWEST SPORTS TONIGHT pre-game show, and handles college baseball play-by-play duties. Lucas joined FSN Southwest as an original employee of Home Sports Entertainment. He was the play-by-play announcer on the network's first-ever event - a Houston Rockets-Boston Celtics NBA home game telecast on January 3, 1983. Lucas was inducted into the Texas Sports Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994 and that year received a national Telly Award for his call of Texas Rangers pitcher Kenny Rogers' perfect game against the California Angels. Lucas also was recognized for his work on FSN's critically acclaimed 2003 documentary profiling Jerry LeVias, and has called play-by-play for the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Indiana Pacers and Seattle SuperSonics.

Emily Jones joined FSN Southwest in August 2004 as weekend anchor and weekday reporter on the network's nightly SOUTHWEST SPORTS REPORT. The former sports director at KCBD-TV in Lubbock, Texas, teams with Ric Renner on the Saturday and Sunday SOUTHWEST SPORTS REPORT shows and files reports on the weeknight sportscasts. The Brooks Wallace Award is something of a homecoming for Jones, who spent six years at Lubbock NBC affiliate KCBD before moving to FSN Southwest. She started as a news anchor, reporter and producer in September 1998 and was elevated to sports director in May 2001. She anchored the station's two nightly sportscasts and oversaw the sports department. A native of Plainview, Texas, Jones graduated from Texas Tech University in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in broadcast journalism.