Men's All-Decade Basketball Team

Time for the Central Oklahoma men's basketball all-decade team. Some tough choices here as the Bronchos churned out plenty of good teams and won a lot of games in the 2000s.

My all-decade team captain is a no-brainer -- Sam Belt, who had a sensational four-year career at UCO from 2004-08. Though never the best athlete on the floor, Sam was usually the best PLAYER on the court and he was the quintessential team leader. A consensus All-American as a senior, Sam ended his career as the school's second all-time leading scorer and he's probably the smartest, most efficient player I've ever had the pleasure of watching at UCO.

Next on the team is Anthony Brown, a two-year standout from 2005-07. A.B. was a dominating inside scorer for the Bronchos, a ferocious dunker and intense competitor who was the quiet assassin intent on doing his job with little fanfare. A.B. averaged 18.8 points and 7.5 rebounds a game in his two years while shooting a sizzling 63 percent from the floor.

Jason Pritchett played in the early part of the decade (2000-03) and he makes my team as another big-time inside presence. A defensive-oriented force in the paint who is UCO's career leader in blocked shots, Jason averaged 12.0 points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.8 blocks a game during his three years with the Bronchos.

Another two-year player on the squad is Deshone Henderson, who earned first-team All-Lone Star Conference North Division honors in 2003-04 and '04-05. A slasher with good 3-point range, Deshone averaged 16.2 points and 5.8 rebounds a game during his two-year stint with the Bronchos.

Rounding out my starting lineup is Demario Jones, who played from 2001-03. A sensational athlete who could post up and score on one trip down the floor and then drain a long-distance 3-pointer the next, Demario averaged 18.7 points and 6.6 rebounds a game as a senior in leading UCO to its first national tournament appearance in five years.

I had a tough time selecting the sixth man, so opted to split those duties and go with a sixth and seventh man!

Filling those roles are Lance Harper, who ended his three-year career with the Bronchos last year, and current UCO senior Eric Cazenave.

The hyperactive Harper was LSC North Division Player of the Year last season and may have improved more than any player I've seen during the course of his career. Cazenave has been a clutch performer throughout his career, having helped the Bronchos win a ton of games the last three-plus years with his 3-point range and defense.

There you have it, the men's basketball all-decade team of the 2000s.

Coming on the first day of 2010 -- the top 10 teams of the 2000s.