HOUSTON, Texas (August 31) - Cougar senior running back Ketric Sanford (Corsicana, Texas) Tuesday was named as one of 38 preseason candidates for the 1999 Dr Pepper Doak Walker Award.

The candidates for the award, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this season, were announced by the Southwestern Bell/SMU Athletic Forum.

Sanford enters his senior season at the University of Houston as one of the more prolific all-purpose backs in school history. He is just 810 rushing yards shy of Chuck Weatherspoon's (1987-90) UH mark of 3,247. Already having set the school record with 519 rushes, Sanford also is 1,487 all-purpose yards away from breaking Weatherspoon's all-time record of 5,715.

The Southwestern Bell/SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will select eight semifinalists in late November, and the Dr Pepper Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee will ultimately vote on the winner. The 182-member National Selection Committee consists of former All-Pro and All-America running backs, print and electronic media and selected special representatives.

The winner of the 1999 Dr Pepper Doak Walker Award will be announced live on ESPN2's Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Thursday, December 9, 1999. The Dr Pepper Doak Walker Award Presentation Banquet will be held at the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas, Texas, on Monday, January 24, 2000.

The Southwestern Bell/SMU Athletic Forum, the presenting entity for the Dr Pepper Doak Walker Award, produces four annual luncheons and is widely regarded as America's preeminent sports luncheon series.

The complete list of candidates follows:

Shaun Alexander, Sr., Alabama   	Deuce McAllister, Jr., Ole Miss
Mike Anderson, Sr., Utah        	Kevin McDougal, Sr., Colorado State
Gerard Arnold, Jr., Memphis     	Travis Minor, Jr., Florida State
Trung Canidate, Sr., Arizona    	Chad Morton, Sr., USC
Dwayne Cherrington, Sr., Colorado       Derrick Nix, So., Southern Miss
Chrys Chukwuma, Sr., Arkansas   	Rodnick Phillips, Sr., SMU
Darren David, Sr., Iowa State   	Travis Prentice, Sr., Miami (Ohio)
Ron Dayne, Sr., Wisconsin       	J.R. Redmond, Sr., Arizona State
Reuben Droughns, Sr., Oregon    	Ray Robinson, So., North Carolina State
Marcus Fields, Jr., California  	Ketric Sanford, Sr., Houston
Eric Flowers, Sr., Central Michigan     Robert Sanford, Jr., Western Michigan
Dante Hall, Sr., Texas A&M      	Paul Smith, Sr., UTEP
Thomas Hamner, Sr., Minnesota   	Shyrone Stith, Jr., Virginia Tech
Elmarko Jackson, Sr., Temple    	Anthony Thomas, Jr., Michigan
James Jackson, Jr., Miami (Fla.)        LaDainian Tomlinson, Jr., TCU
Thomas Jones, Sr., Virginia     	Anthony White, Sr., Kentucky
LaMont Jordan, Jr., Maryland    	Michael Wiley, Sr., Ohio State
Godfrey Lewis, So., Bowling Green       Boo Williams, Sr., South Carolina
Jamal Lewis, Jr., Tennessee     	Ricky Williams, Jr., Texas Tech