March 2, 2006

BERKELEY - Cal sophomore forward Leon Powe, who leads the Pac-10 in rebounding and ranks second in the conference in scoring, has been named the 2005-06 Pac-10 Player of the Year by collegeinsider.com.

Powe enters this week's games vs. UCLA and USC averaging 19.9 ppg and 10.1 rpg. He paces the league with 12 double doubles, and he has scored in double figures in 14 consecutive games - the longest active streak among conference players.

Also voted first-team all-district by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, Powe could become the first Pac-10 player since Stanford's Adam Keefe in 1991-92 to average at least 20 ppg and 10 rpg. He has led Cal in rebounding 18 times in the 21 games he has played this year and 43 times in 48 career games.

Powe pulled down a career-best 16 boards at Oregon State Feb. 2 - the highest for any Pac-10 player this season - and scored a career-best 32 points vs. Stanford Feb. 9. He added another 30 points in his next game vs. Arizona Feb. 16. For the year, he has tallied 20 or more points 11 times and 25 or more on four occasions.