Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Spartanburg, S.C. - USC Upstate men’s basketball signee Mezie Uzochukwu was named the Most Valuable Player of the North Carolina East-West All-Star game Monday night.

Uzochukwu, who was a standout on the Northeast Guilford High School team, led the West team to an 81-75 victory in the Greensboro Coliseum. He finished with a team-high 16 points and eight rebounds to lead the West to its third-straight All-Star game victory. He was 7-for-7 from the field and converted his one free throw attempt.

Uzochukwu joins a prestigious club in winning MVP honors in the East-West All-Star game. Kevin Swinton and William Graves won the honor in the previous two years and have gone on to play in the ACC. Swinton plays at Wake Forest while Graves is at North Carolina.

“Being MVP is great, but I’m not really an individual guy,” Uzochukwu told the Greensboro News & Record. “I just wanted to prove to anybody that doubted me that I could play on the next level.”

Uzochukwu averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds per game as a senior at Northeast Guilford. He was also a standout in the classroom, posting a 4.15 GPA.