April 2, 2004

LOGAN, Utah - Former Utah State men's basketball standout and current Asheville Altitude forward Desmond Penigar was selected as the National Basketball Development League's (NBDL) 2003-04 Rookie of the Year it was announced on Wednesday. Penigar was selected by a vote of NBDL head coaches.

Penigar, a 6-7, 245-pound forward, was also named to the league's first team, joining Josh Asselin, Jason Collier, Tierre Brown and Marque Perry. In 34 games for Asheville this year, Penigar is tied for the league lead in scoring at 18.6 points per game, to go along with 6.5 rebounds in 29.2 minutes. He has scored in double-figures in all but four games and has scored 20-plus points 12 times on the year. Penigar was named the NBDL Player of the Month in December as he averaged 22.8 points and 8.3 rebounds.

Penigar signed consecutive 10-day contracts by the Orlando Magic of the NBA in late February and averaged 3.2 points and 2.4 rebounds in 10 games before returning to Asheville on March 11.

Penigar was a two-time first-team all-Big West selection at Utah State from 2002-03 as he led the team in scoring both years and finished 25th on the all-time scoring list with 1,051 points. He was also named the MVP of the 2003 Big West Tournament as he led USU to its third tournament championship in four years.

Penigar joins Fred House and Devin Brown as winners of the NBDL Rookie of the Year Award. House, a former Southern Utah standout, won the award in 2002, and Brown won it last season.