2016 NABC All-District Teams
Beard Voted NABC District COY; Hagins on First Team
LITTLE ROCK – Josh Hagins has been named to the NABC Coaches Division I All-District 24 First Team and Chris Beard was named the District Coach of the Year, the organization announced Friday.
Beard, who was also named the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year, led Little Rock to a program-best 30-5 overall record. The Trojans won the Sun Belt’s regular-season and tournament titles en route to the program’s fifth NCAA Tournament appearance.
Little Rock’s double-overtime win over Purdue in the first round of the NCAA Tournament was the program’s first tournament victory in three decades.
Beard’s 30 wins tie him for sixth-most on the list of first-year Division I head coaches. Little Rock became the first team in Sun Belt Conference history to win 30 games in a season.
Hagins finished his senior season averaging 13.2 points, 4.7 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.
In Little Rock’s win over No. 5 Purdue, Hagins totaled 31 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals to become the first player in NCAA Tournament history to post a line of 30-5-5-5.
Hagins scored 29 of his career-high 31 points after halftime and hit game-tying shots near the end of regulation and the first overtime period. On his own, he outscored Purdue 21-20 over the final five minutes of regulation and overtime.
A 6-1 guard, Hagins shot 45.3 percent from the floor, 38.3 percent from 3 and 83.7 percent from the foul line. He picked up First Team All-Sun Belt honors in early March and was named to the league’s All-Tournament team following the Trojans’ tournament title.
The Airline HS product ends his career ranked third on Little Rock’s all-time scoring list (1,475 points), third in assists (468), third in steals (179), fifth in made field goals (525) and fifth in made 3-pointers (175). He played more games (128) than any player in program history and trails only Derek Fisher on the program’s list for career minutes (3,496).
Hagins is Little Rock’s First Team All-District selection since Solomon Bozeman in 2011.
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A-State Men’s Basketball Guard Devin Carter Earns NABC Second Team All-District Honors
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (3/25/16) – Arkansas State junior guard Devin Carter has been selected as a National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division I District 24 Second Team member, the organization announced on Friday.
Carter led the Red Wolves by averaging 17.3 points per game and shot a team-best 45.8 percent from the floor. His 17.3 points per game average ranked the highest since Adrian Banks averaged 18.4 points in the 2007-08 campaign. The Champaign, Ill. native posted 15 games of 20 or more points, including two 30-point performances in conference action. The 6-foot-5 guard drained 88 three-pointers, tied for the third-most in single-season program history, finishing the year shooting 41.7 percent (88-211) from beyond the arc.
Among Sun Belt Conference student-athletes, Carter finished the regular season ranked fifth in scoring (17.3), fourth in 3-point field goal percentage (41.7), second in 3-pointers made (88) and third in minutes per game (35.7). He posted a career high of 34 points at UT Arlington and 33 points versus South Alabama to become the first player at A-State with two 30-point performances in same season since Brandon Reed in 2009-10.
This marks the fourth-straight season that an A-State player has earned NABC All-District 24 first or second team honors.
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Deng, Roberson Earn NABC All-District Honors
MONROE, La. – The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced that seniors Majok Deng and Justin Roberson from the ULM men’s basketball program were selected to the All-District 24 teams on Friday. Deng was named to the First-Team, and Roberson the Second-Team.
NABC All-District Teams are selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC.
Deng, a product of Adelaide, Australia, earned the honor after leading the league in scoring with 19.0 points per conference game. He was also named to the Sun Belt All-Conference First-Team and All-Tournament Team.
In addition to scoring, Deng finished first in the league blocks, third in minutes and offensive rebounds, fifth in three-point field goal percentage, sixth in three-pointers per game, seventh in rebounding and eighth in free throw percentage.
Deng scored at least 12 points in 24 of his last 26 outings. He posted a trio of 30-plus scoring games on the year and 11 20-plus scoring games. Deng ranks fourth all-time in career blocks at ULM with 101 and swatted away a career-high nine at UT Arlington. Deng also registered 14 career double-doubles and 52 career double-figure scoring games in two seasons at ULM.
Roberson, from Natchitoches, La., earned SBC Defensive Student-Athlete of the Year accolades and was named to the All-SBC Second-Team and All-Tournament Team. He went on a 10 game stretch in conference where he netted the nine highest scoring games of his career, all of at least 20 points.
Roberson led the Warhawks in steals each of the last two years. He grabbed 1.7 per game this year which was second-best in the league.
Averaging 14.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game, Roberson reached double-figures in scoring 23 times and shot .417 from beyond-the-arc which ranked third in the league.
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Tookie Brown Named NABC All-District
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Georgia Southern men's basketball freshman Tookie Brown has been named first-team all-district by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), the organization announced today.
Brown, who was named the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year and first-team all-league, ranks eighth in the country among freshmen in scoring. The 5-foot-11 guard set the Georgia Southern freshman scoring record and ranked in the top-10 in the Sun Belt in scoring (4th, 17.8 ppg), assists (8th, 3.4 apg), steals (3rd, 1.6), free-throw percentage (7th, .812) and assist/turnover ratio (7th, 1.5). Brown scored 20-plus points in 10 games and reached double figures in 29 of 31 contests.
He is the first Eagle to win conference Freshman of the Year honors since Lonnie Edwards was named the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year by both the coaches and media in 1994 and will be the top returning scorer in the Sun Belt next season. Georgia Southern, which finished fifth in the league, returns all five starters and 13 lettermen to the 2016-17 squad.
The awards were voted on by the association's membership, and Georgia Southern resides in District 24 with its fellow Sun Belt Conference members.
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Hollowell Named to NABC All-District 24 Second Team
* Georgia State's Jeremy Hollowell has been named to the NABC All-District 24 Second Team as announced by the organization on Friday.
* Hollowell led the team averaging 14.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game during the 2015-16 season.
* Hollowell will be one of three starters to return to the Panthers next year when the season gets underway in November.
KANSAS CITY-The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced Friday that Georgia State’s Jeremy Hollowell has been selected to the NABC Division I All-District 24 Second Team for 2015-16, recognizing the nation’s best men’s collegiate basketball student-athletes.
It marks the fourth-straight season at least one Panther has been recognized following in the footsteps of R.J. Hunter and Ryan Harrow.
The awards are selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC. A total of 250 student-athletes from 25 districts are now eligible for the NABC Coaches’ Division I All-America teams.
“It was great to see Jeremy earn this recognition from the coaches,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “He started to play his best basketball at the end of the season and I look forward to great things from him as a senior.”
Hollowell finished the season averaging 14.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, shooting 43.6 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from 3-point range. He shot 81.0 percent from the free throw line and was named Sun Belt Player of the Week on Jan. 11.
After scoring a career-high 25 points against Emmanuel College in the second game of the season, he returned a few days later to lead the Panthers with 23 points at Ole Miss, two of his highest scoring games of the year. He finished the season scoring in double figures in the final nine games of the season, garnering his first career double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds at South Alabama.
Georgia State will return three starters off a squad that finished the year 16-14 next season.
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Frank Eaves Named to NABC First Team
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Appalachian State University men’s basketball’s Frank Eaves (Greensboro, N.C./Page) was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches District 24 first team, announced by the NABC on Friday.
This marks Eaves’ second nomination as an NABC all-district student-athlete after being nominated for the second-team a year ago. Eaves’ selection this season is just the fifth overall selection in program history and just the second first-team selection. Donald Sims was a first-team selection in 2011.
The senior guard led Appalachian State in scoring this season (18.7 ppg) and ranked third in the league in scoring this season after leading the conference for the majority of the year. For his career, Eaves finished with 59 double-figure scoring games including 28 this season. On 13 occasions, Eaves scored 20+ points and finished with 23 such games in his career.
He finishes the season in the top-100 in the NCAA rankings in of points per game (59th), three-point field goals per game (64th - 2.7), three-point percentage (73rd - 38.4), total points (49th - 579), three-point attempts (53rd - 216), total threes made (51st - 83), total field goal attempts (39th - 446), free throws made (44th - 156) and free throw attempts (65th - 191).
This season, Eaves netted 30+ points on five different occasions, including a career-high 38-point performance at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 6 in an 86-80 loss to Hofstra - tied for 12th on Appalachian’s single-game scoring list. Eaves’ point total is tied for second-most this season at MSG both collegiately and professionally. His 38 points is tied with the New York Knicks’ Aaron Afflalo and Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant holds the top spot with 44 points scored at The Garden.
On Jan. 23 against Georgia State, Eaves became just the 31st player in Appalachian State men’s basketball program history to eclipse 1,000 career points. Eaves finished his career with 1,211 points - good for 23rd all-time. He also finished the 2015-16 season with 579 points, which makes him just the 20th player to eclipse 500 points in a season and his total ranks him seventh in the program record book.
Eaves nearly topped his MSG performance later in the season with 37 points in a heartbreaking 101-100 loss to Georgia Southern on Jan. 25. The 37 points from the senior tied a Holmes Center record for points scored by an Appalachian student-athlete and he also tied the Holmes Center record for threes made in a game (9).
— appstatesports.com —
Erick Neal named NABC All-District
ARLINGTON, Texas - UT Arlington sophomore Erick Neal added to his list of postseason accolades by being named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches 2015-16 District 24 Second Team.
"Just another incredible honor for Erick and the season he had for us," UT Arlington coach Scott Cross said. "Being recognized by the NABC is always special because it's voted on by coaches. We wouldn't have gone as far as we did and tied the record for wins without his leadership all season. I've very proud of what Erick and the rest of the team accomplished. "
Neal, a Sun Belt First Team All-Conference selection, put together one of the best seasons in UT Arlington history for a point guard. The Dallas Lincoln graduate led the Sun Belt in assist average for both the regular season (6.2) and in league play (6.8). His 211 assists this season are the second-most in a single season in school history.
Neal was also among the Sun Belt leaders in scoring average (12.7), steals (1.7), assists/turnover ratio (2.4) and 3-pointers made (1.9). He recorded the first triple-double in school history with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists at ULM on Jan. 28. Neal also racked up three more double-doubles.
He scored in double figures 23 times, including five games of at least 20, and has dished out at least five assists in 25 games. Neal was named College Sports Madness Sun Belt Player of the Week on Nov. 23.
Neal's direction also helped the Mavericks set several team single-season offensive records, including most points (2,762), assists (590) and 3-pointers (307). UTA also went 24-11 to match the single-season record for wins and made the program's deepest postseason run by reaching the CollegeInsider.com Tournament quarterfinals.
Selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC, the student-athletes and coaches on the all-district teams represent the finest basketball players and coaches across America.