March 8, 2006

Moraga, CA - Saint Mary's men's basketball freshman Diamon Simpson was named to the All-Freshmen Team and fifth-year head coach Randy Bennett was named the West Coast Conference Coach of the Year by Collegeinsider.com. CBS Sportsline's Greg Doyle also named Bennett the WCC Coach of the Year.

Simpson, who averaged 8.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game as a freshman, was one of 25 players from all 334 Division I men's basketball programs to be recognized on the All-Freshman Team. Simpson led the Gaels in rebounds, and was third on the team in scoring. Simpson collected 201 rebounds in his first season and had 86 offensive rebounds for the Gaels and was is the WCC's fourth leading rebounder this season.

He finished the year with back-to-back double-doubles in the WCC Tournament. Simpson had a career-high 20 points and 12 rebounds in the quarterfinal game against Santa Clara then had 12 points and 11 boards against Loyola Marymount in the semifinals.

Randy Bennett was named the WCC Coach of the Year by CollegeInsider.com after guided the Gaels to their third straight second place finish in the WCC when Saint Mary's defeated Loyola Marymount (82-70) on the final day of the regular season. SMC opened the WCC schedule with a 1-5 start, but posted a 7-1 record in the final eight WCC contests.

The Gaels won 17 games this season and posted victories in nine of their last 11 games with virtually a new team. Saint Mary's lost four starters from last year's 25-9 NCAA Tournament team.

2005-06 CollegeInsider.com All-Freshman Team
Josh Alexander                G     6-4    Stephen F. Austin
Mario Chalmers                G     6-1    Kansas
Wilson Chandler               F     6-7    DePaul
Jeremy Chappell               G     6-3    Robert Morris
Devan Downey                  G     5-10   Cincinnati
Jamont Gordon                 G     6-4    Mississippi State
Tyler Hansbrough              F/C   6-9    North Carolina
Jason Holsinger               G     5-11   Evansville
J.R. Inman                    F     6-9    Rutgers
Dominic James                 G     5-10   Marquette
Juwann James                  F     6-6    James Madison
Curtis Jerrells               G     6-1    Baylor
Brandon Johnson               G     6-0    San Diego
Tommie Liddell                G     6-4    Saint Louis
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute      F     6-7    UCLA
Tasmin Mitchell               F     6-7    LSU
Tyrese Rice                   G     6-0    Boston College
Brandon Rush                  F     6-1    Kansas
Diamon Simpson                F     6-7    Saint Mary's
Rodney Stuckey                G     6-4    Eastern Washington
Tyrus Thomas                  F     6-7    LSU
Mike Trimboli                 G     6-1    Vermont
A.D. Vassallo                 F     6-6    Virginia Tech
Marcus Williams               F     6-7    Arizona
Shawne Williams               G/F   6-9    Memphis