BEASLEY, DOUGLAS-ROBERTS, HANSBROUGH AND LOVE NAMED NAISMITH MEN’S COLLEGE PLAYER OF THE YEAR FINALISTS Fans Will Have An Opportunity To Vote Using Their AT&T Phone ATLANTA (March 23, 2008) – Two juniors and two freshmen headline the list of finalists for the 2008 Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year Award presented by AT&T the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced today. Michael Beasley (Kansas State), Chris Douglas-Roberts (Memphis), Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina) and Kevin Love (UCLA) make up the final ballot. CBS Sports will profile the four Naismith Trophy finalists during its coverage of the 2008 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship starting with the first games of the NCAA ® Sweet 16® on March 27. “There is such a strong correlation between these finalists and season’s their schools are having,” said Gary Stokan, Atlanta Tipoff Club president. “And each has achieved tremendous success which is difficult to do with all of the expectations placed upon them. We know any one of them would be a deserving Naismith winner.” “This is the fourth straight year that AT&T has had the honor of giving fans a voice in selecting the winner of the prestigious Naismith Trophy,” said Tim McGhee, director of National Sponsorships for AT&T. “These four athletes all had outstanding seasons, and we’re expecting this to be a really tight contest.” Finalists were chosen through a vote by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Board of Selectors, who narrowed the mid-season list of 30 candidates down to the final four. The Board, which is comprised of leading basketball journalists, coaches and administrators from around the country, based its criteria on player performances this season. The four finalists will attend the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Guardians of the Game awards program on Sunday, April 6 at the 2008 Men’s Final Four in San Antonio where the winner will be presented with the Naismith Trophy as the 2008 Men’s College Player of the Year. CBS will feature the winner during halftime of its coverage of the NCAA Men’s Championship game on Monday, April 7. Again this year, AT&T will give fans an unprecedented voice in selecting the winner. Fan voting, through the power and ease of text messaging, will account for 25 percent of the selection process. Fans can text message “VOTE” to “87654” to receive the final ballot and participate in the voting process. Voting for the Naismith Trophy Men’s College Basketball Player of the Year will end on Saturday, April 5, 2008, at 11:59 p.m. EDT. AT&T is making the voting open to other wireless carriers allowing even more fans to participate. Other wireless carriers must opt- in for their subscribers to participate. -more- Naismith Men’s Finalists Release Page 2 ABOUT THE FINALISTS Michael Beasley: The freshman from Frederick, Md. was named Big 12 Men’s Player of the Year, following Texas’ Kevin Durant, who won the award last year en route to becoming the first freshman ever to win the Naismith Men’s Player of the Year award. Beasley averaged 26.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per game in leading the Wildcats to a 20-11 record. He became only the third player in Big 12 history to get at least 800 points in a season, joining Durant (903 in 2006-07) and Iowa State’s Marcus Fizer (844 in 1999-2000). Chris Douglas-Roberts: The 6-7 junior from Detroit, Mich. was named the Conference USA Player of the Year in leading the Tigers to both regular season and conference tournament championships. For the season, Douglas-Roberts has averaged 17.3 points per game while shooting 44.2 percent from the 3-point line. He was the catalyst in leading Memphis to 42 consecutive conferences victories and three straight Conference USA Tournament titles. Tyler Hansbrough: Hansbrough led North Carolina to both the ACC regular-season and tournament championships this season, while averaging 23.1 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. The 6-9 junior from Poplar Bluff, Mo., was named the ACC player of the year and will be only the sixth player in school history to have his jersey retired. He seeks to become the first Tar Heel since Antawn Jamison (1998) and third overall (Michael Jordan, 1984) to win the Naismith Trophy. Kevin Love: The 2007 Naismith National High School Boy’s Player of the Year from Lake Oswego, Ore., was named the Pacific 10 Conference player of the year. He became only the second freshman in league history to be selected for that honor – California's Shareef Abdur- Rahim was the first in 1996. The 6-foot-10 center averaged 17.4 points and 10.9 rebounds in his rookie campaign in leading the Bruins to both the regular season and conference tournament championships. UCLA has had three previous winners account for five Naismith Trophies (Marques Johnson, 1977; Bill Walton , 1972-74); and Lew Alcindor, 1969). Last year’s Naismith Trophy recipient was Texas Forward Kevin Durant, who became the first freshman ever to win the Naismith Trophy. Other notable men’s college player of the year winners include Ralph Sampson (1981-1983), Larry Bird (1979), Patrick Ewing (1985) and Christian Laettner (1992). For more information, visit www.naismithawards.com. ABOUT THE ATLANTA TIPOFF CLUB The Atlanta Tipoff Club, an Atlanta Sports Council property, is committed to promoting the game of basketball and recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of those who make the game so exciting. The Atlanta Tipoff Club has presented the Naismith Trophy since UCLA’s Lew Alcindor first won the award in 1969. The Naismith Awards program has become an emblem of excellence for the game, recognizing the Men’s and Women’s College Player of the Year, Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year, as well as awards for outstanding achievement in high school basketball, officiating, and overall contribution to the game. -more- Naismith Men’s Finalists Release Page 2 ABOUT AT&T AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. Among their offerings are the world's most advanced IP-based business communications services and the nation's leading wireless, high speed Internet access and voice services. In domestic markets, AT&T is known for the directory publishing and advertising sales leadership of its Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations, and the AT&T brand is licensed to innovators in such fields as communications equipment. As part of its three- screen integration strategy, AT&T is expanding its TV entertainment offerings. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com. © 2008 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. # # # Contacts: Eric Oberman Lauren Butler Atlanta Tipoff Club AT&T (404) 586-8506 (404) 405-5623 [email protected] [email protected] .