RUSTON, La. ? Monday night?s men?s basketball game between Illinois and North Carolina determined the Tar Heels as national champions, but the NCAA?s individual rebounding title was pretty much wrapped up before that contest began.

Louisiana Tech sophomore Paul Millsap took the rebounding for the second consecutive season, becoming only the fifth NCAA player ever to win the rebounding title in two straight years and the first to do so in his freshman and sophomore campaigns.

Illinois? top rebounder, James Augustine, was averaging 7.7 boards per game heading into the national title game and needed 193 rebounds against North Carolina to pass Millsap for the NCAA?s individual rebounding title while the Tar Heels? top man on the boards, Sean May, was averaging 10.8 rebounds per game and needed 71 rebounds against the Illini to pass Millsap?s 12.414 average for the rebounding title.

American's Kermit Washington was the last player to win two straight individual NCAA rebounding titles, doing so in 1972 and '73. Washington, Pacific's Leroy Wright (1959 and '60), Ohio State's Jerry Lucas (1961 and '62) and Jacksonville's Artis Gilmore (1970 and '71) are the only other players other than Millsap to ever win back-to-back NCAA rebounding titles with all four doing so in their junior and senior seasons.

For his efforts this past season Millsap has already been named a first team All-Western Athletic Conference selection and was also named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches' and the United State's Basketball Writers All-District 8 teams as well Basketball Times? All-South Team.