July 24, 2004

GREENSBORO, N.C. - NC State quarterback Philip Rivers and Duke basketball player Alana Beard have been named the Atlantic Coast Conference male and female athletes of the year for the 2003-04 academic year, as voted on by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association.

The Anthony J. McKevlin Award, named for a former sports editor of The (Raleigh) News & Observer, is presented to the ACC's top male student-athlete, while the Mary Garber Award, named for a retired Winston-Salem Journal sportswriter, is given to the top female student-athlete.

Rivers recorded 38 votes, ahead of Wake Forest golfer Bill Haas who tallied 17 votes. Rounding out the voting for the McKevlin Award was Duke basketball player Chris Duhon who received two votes and Virginia wrestler Scott Moore who collected one vote.

In the Garber voting, Beard finished with 39 votes ahead of Virginia lacrosse player Amy Appelt who totaled eight votes. Florida State softball player Jessica van der Linden was third with five votes followed by North Carolina track and field performer Laura Gerraughty who tallied three votes. Rounding out the voting was Maryland lacrosse player Kelly Coppedge, Wake Forest field hockey player Kelly Doton and Georgia Tech track and field performer Chaunte Howard with one vote apiece.

Rivers was named a finalist for the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, Johnny Unitas Award, the Hossman Trophy and the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, after being tabbed the unanimous selection for 2003 ACC Player of the Year. The native of Athens, Ala., was a unanimous first-team All-ACC selection, having led the conference in every passing and total offense category. Rivers set the ACC single-season records for total offense, total offense per game, touchdown responsibility, passing yards, TD passes, completion percentage, pass completions and pass attempts and was the national leader in completion percentage and passing efficiency. He closed his career with a remarkable performance against Kansas in the Tangerine Bowl, hitting 37-of-45 passes for a career-high 475 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions and rushed for 20 yards. Rivers broke school bowl game records and Tangerine Bowl records for passing yards, pass completions, TD passes, completion percentage and total offense, en route to earning MVP honors. Rivers owns school and conference records for career passing attempts (1,710), pass completions (1,087), touchdown responsibility (112), 300-yard passing games (18) and 400-yard passing games (7). A first round pick of the 2004 NFL Draft, selected fourth by the New York Giants and then traded minutes later to the San Diego Chargers, Rivers finished his career as the second leading passer in NCAA history with 13,484 career passing yards, breaking NC State and ACC records.

Beard becomes the fourth female athlete to garner the Mary Garber Award in back-to-back years, having been named the ACC Female Athlete of the Year in 2003 as well. The Shreveport, La., native was named the State Farm Wade Trophy, Associated Press, USBWA and ESPN.com National Player of the Year. She became only the second player in NCAA history to be named first team Associated Press All-America on three different occasions and earned first-team Kodak All-America honors for the third straight year as well. Beard, who averaged 19.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.4 steals, 1.4 blocks this season, was named the ACC Player of the Year, first-team All-ACC and All-ACC Defensive team. She started all 136 games played in her career, helping Duke to a 126-14 record over four years. She became the first player in ACC history to be named ACC Player of the Year three times and to earn four straight first-team All-ACC selections. Beard garnered 18 career ACC Player of the Week selections, leading the next closest player with seven. She finished her career as Duke's all-time leading scorer with 2,687 point and is the second-leading scorer in ACC history. She was selected as one of the top ten ACC Female Athletes of all time in addition to being named to the ACC 50th Anniversary Women's Basketball team in 2003. The first men's or women's basketball player in NCAA history to register over 2,600 points, 500 assists and 400 steals, Beard's jersey became the first women's jersey retired by Duke University.

Anthony J. McKevlin Award Recipients

ACC Male Athlete of the Year

1954   Joel Shankle, Duke..................... Track & Field
1955   Dickie Hemric, WF......................... Basketball
1956   Dave Sime, Duke............. Track & Field/Basketball
1957   Lennie Rosenbluth, UNC.................... Basketball
1958   Dick Christy, NCS........................... Football
1959   Lou Pucillo, NCS.......................... Basketball
1960   Mike McGee, Duke............................ Football
1961   Roman Gabriel, NCS.......................... Football
1962   Len Chappell, WF.......................... Basketball
1963   Art Heyman, Duke.......................... Basketball
1964   Jeff Mullins, Duke........................ Basketball
1965   Brian Piccolo, WF........................... Football
1966   Danny Talbott, UNC................. Football/Baseball
1967   Bobby Bryant, USC.................. Football/Baseball
1968   Larry Miller, UNC......................... Basketball
1969   Frank Quayle, UVa........................... Football
1970   Charlie Scott, UNC........................ Basketball
1971   Don McCauley, UNC........................... Football
1972   Barry Parkhill, UVa....................... Basketball
1973   David Thompson, NCS....................... Basketball
1974   Tony Waldrop, UNC...................... Track & Field
1975   David Thompson, NCS....................... Basketball
1976   John Lucas, Md..................... Basketball/Tennis
1977   Phil Ford, UNC............................ Basketball
1978   Phil Ford, UNC............................ Basketball
1979   Renaldo Nehemiah, Md................... Track & Field
1980   Julie Shea, NCS........................ Track & Field
1981   Julie Shea, NCS........................ Track & Field
1982   James Worthy, UNC......................... Basketball
1983   Ralph Sampson, UVa........................ Basketball
1984   Michael Jordan, UNC....................... Basketball
1985   B.J. Surhoff, UNC........................... Baseball
1986   Len Bias, Md.............................. Basketball
1987   Riccardo Ingram, GaT............. Football/Basketball
1988   Danny Ferry, Duke......................... Basketball
1989   Danny Ferry, Duke......................... Basketball
1990   Clarkston Hines, Duke....................... Football
1991   Christian Laettner, Duke.................. Basketball
1992   Christian Laettner, Duke.................. Basketball
1993   Charlie Ward, FSU................ Football/Basketball
1994   Charlie Ward, FSU................ Football/Basketball
1995   Randolph Childress, WF.................... Basketball
1996   Kris Benson, Clem........................... Baseball
1997   Tim Duncan, WF............................ Basketball
1998   Antawn Jamison, UNC....................... Basketball
1999   Elton Brand, Duke......................... Basketball
2000   Joe Hamilton, GaT........................... Football
2001   Shane Battier, Duke....................... Basketball
2002   Juan Dixon, Md............................ Basketball
2003   Chris Rotelli, UVa.......................... Lacrosse
2004   Philip Rivers, NCS.......................... Football

Mary Garber Award Recipients

ACC Female Athlete of the Year

1990   Shannon Higgins, UNC....................... Soccer
1991   Dawn Staley, UVa....................... Basketball
1992   Dawn Staley, UVa....................... Basketball
1993   Mia Hamm, UNC.............................. Soccer
1994   Mia Hamm, UNC.............................. Soccer
1995   Tisha Venturini, UNC....................... Soccer
1996   Kelly Amonte, Md.................. Soccer/Lacrosse
1997   Sarah Forbes, Md......................... Lacrosse
1998   Vanessa Webb, Duke......................... Tennis
1999   Cindy Parlow, UNC.......................... Soccer
2000   Jen Adams, Md............................ Lacrosse
2001   Jen Adams, Md............................ Lacrosse
2002   Bea Bielik, WF............................. Tennis
2003   Alana Beard, Duke...................... Basketball
2004   Alana Beard, Duke...................... Basketball