Vince Greene and Trey Guidry were honored as the co-recipients of the Doug Collins Coaches Award at the 2004 Illinois State mens basketball banquet Thursday night at the Holiday Inn.
At the point guard position Greene was the Redbirds floor leader, while Guidry led the team in nearly every offensive category. Greene led the squad with 98 assists and owned a 1.46 assist-to-turnover ratio, while shooting a team best 91.2 percent from the free throw line. His shooting from the charity stripe ranked No. 2 in the league and Greene was No. 6 in assists.
Guidry led the Birds with 15.2 points per game, which ranked fourth in the conference. The long-range shooter dropped 86 treys on the season and shot a team and league best 46 percent from beyond the arch, which also ranked No. 5 nationally. Guidry also led the conference with 2.97 three-point field goals per game.
In addition to the Doug Collins Coaches Award, the Redbird coaching staff also awarded the Most Improved, Mr. Defense and Redbird Awards, Receiving the Most Improved Award was freshman Greg Dilligard. Dilligard led the Redbirds in field goal percentage, converting 57 of his 84 attempts. He finished his first season at the college level averaging 4.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.
Najeeb Echols walked away with the Mr. Defense Award. Echols versatility on the defensive end allowed Moser and his staff flexible defensive match-ups. After missing the first five games due to NCAA transfer rules, Echols finished the 2003-04 campaign averaging 6.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per contest.
For a player who started his first game as a freshman at Illinois State, it was only fitting to have Gregg Alexander receive the Redbird Award, given to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of Redbird basketball. Alexander finished the season averaging 6.5 points per game and started a team high 28 contests.
Illinois State finished the season with a 10-19 record overall and 4-14 in conference play.
