LSC announces annual Men's Hoops awards
Midwestern State's Nolan Richardson earned Player of the Year honors in the South Division and Central Oklahoma's Lance Harper claimed the same award in the North Division to highlight the Lone Star Conference men's basketball postseason awards announced Tuesday by league officials.
The awards announcement came Tuesday night at a pre-tournament banquet in Bartlesville, Okla., where the LSC Basketball Championship tournament is set to begin on Thursday. Quarterfinal games will be played all day Thursday, with semifinal games slated for Saturday afternoon and the championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Richardson and Harper were among 10 players to pick up first team All-LSC recognition, with five in both the North and South Divisions. Another 10 were selected to the second team, plus 15 more landed honorable mention honors.
Richardson was joined on the All-LSC South Division first team by West Texas A&M's Kyle Shields, Tarleton State's Eric Williams, Texas A&M-Kingsville's Wendell Mulkey and Angelo State's Lionel Brown.
Joining Harper on the All-LSC North Division first team were Texas A&M-Commerce's DeUndrae Spraggins, Cameron's Dave Smith, Southwestern Oklahoma's Kenneth White and Northeastern State's Jason Jones.
Richardson and Harper earned Player of the Year acclaim by virtue of the most votes in the balloting of the league's head coaches.
Richardson finished the regular season as the league's scoring champ at 20.7 points per game while leading the Mustangs to their first outright South Division championship since 2000. He put together a streak of eight-straight 20-point performances and had five 30-point outings this season.
Harper, who is part of a UCO team that won the North crown for the fourth time in five years, has started every game this season and is one of just two players in the league to rank among the top 10 in scoring (17.0, seventh), rebounding (7.8, fifth) and field goal percentage (56.6, seventh). He enters the LSC Tournament on a roll, having shot 67.2 percent (78-of-116) in his last nine games while averaging 20.8 points and 7.8 rebounds a game.
Other top awards were distributed for defensive player, newcomer, freshman and coach of the year.
For the South Division, Anthony Jones of Texas A&M-Kingsville took Defensive Player of the Year honors, while Kalif Bakare of Tarleton State was named Freshman of the Year. ASU's Brown took home Newcomer of the Year recognition, while MSU's Jeff Ray LSC South Coach of the Year recognition.
In the North Division, Abdullah Lawal of Southwestern Oklahoma was named Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight year, while Freshman of the Year honors went to A&M-C's Brad Hambrick. A&M-C's Spraggins was named Newcomer of the Year, while UCO's Terry Evans and CU's Wade Alexander shared LSC North Coach of the Year acclaim.
Overall, a total of 45 student-athletes were recognized by the all-conference program. The awards are voted upon by the league coaches.
2009 LSC MEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-CONFERENCE AWARDS
NORTH DIVISION -- FIRST TEAM
Pos. Player School Year Hometown
F Lance Harper Central Oklahoma Sr. Edmond, Okla.
G DeUndrae Spraggins Texas A&M-Commerce Sr. East St. Louis, Ill.
G Dave Smith Cameron Sr. Plainview, Texas
G Kenneth White Southwestern Oklahoma Sr. Dallas, Texas
C Jason Jones Northeastern State Jr. Cahors, France
NORTH DIVISION -- SECOND TEAM
Pos. Player School Year Hometown
C Will Slones Southeastern Oklahoma Jr. Orlando, Fla
G Dontae Figgs East Central So. Henning, Tenn.
G Abdullah Lawal Southwestern Oklahoma Sr. Plano, Texas
G Clarke Hale Southwestern Oklahoma Sr. Azile, Texas
G Ben Rovenstine Northeastern State Sr. Bartlesville, Okla.
NORTH DIVISION -- HONORABLE MENTION
Cameron: F, Kallan Glasgow, Jr.; F, Mekaile Reed, Sr.; Central Oklahoma: G, David Thomas, Sr.; G, Eric Cazenave, Jr.; F, Michael Sosanya, So.; East Central: F, Justin Wilkerson, Jr.;
Southwestern Oklahoma: G, Kendall Smith, Sr.; F, Jerard Campbell, Sr.;
Texas A&M-Commerce: F, Rashad Brown, Sr.
NORTH DIVISION -- SPECIAL AWARDS
Player of the Year: Lance Harper, Central Oklahoma
Defensive Player of the Year: Abdullah Lawal, Southwestern Oklahoma
Freshman of the Year: Brad Hambrick, Texas A&M-Commerce
Newcomer of the Year: DeUndrae Spraggins, Texas A&M-Commerce
Coach of the Year: Terry Evans, Central Oklahoma and Wade Alexander, Cameron
SOUTH DIVISION -- FIRST TEAM
Pos. Player School Year Hometown
G Nolan Richardson Midwestern State Sr. Tulsa, Okla.
G Kyle Shields West Texas A&M Sr. Amarillo, Texas
F Eric Williams Tarleton State Sr. Long Beach, Calif.
G Wendell Mulkey Texas A&M-Kingsville Sr. San Antonio, Texas
G Lionel Brown Angelo State Sr. Ardmore, Okla.
SOUTH DIVISION -- SECOND TEAM
Pos. Player School Year Hometown
F Dejan Sencanski Abilene Christian Sr. Zrenjanin, Serbia
G Ryan Bennett Angelo State Sr. Fort Worth, Texas
G Earl Rabb Midwestern State Sr. Fort Worth, Texas
F Clyde Johnson Texas A&M-Kingsville Sr. San Antonio, Texas
G Dante Adams Abilene Christian Sr. Little Rock, Ark.
SOUTH DIVISION -- HONORABLE MENTION
Angelo State: C, Malik Motnii,Sr.; Eastern New Mexico: F, Dannon Wafer, Jr.;
Midwestern State: G, Craig Green, Jr.; Tarleton State: G, Marlin Cloudy, Sr.;
Texas A&M-Kingsville: C, Anthony Jones, Sr.; West Texas A&M: G, Nick Burns, Jr.
SOUTH DIVISION -- SPECIAL AWARDS
Player of the Year: Nolan Richardson, Midwestern State
Defensive Player of the Year: Anthony Jones, Texas A&M-Kingsville
Freshman of the Year: Kalif Bakare, Tarleton State
Newcomer of the Year: Lionel Brown, Angelo State
Coach of the Year: Jeff Ray, Midwestern State
