BAKER, Kan. (Mar. 16) – Alaska Anchorage junior Sekou ‘Suki’ Wiggs has been selected among the top 25 watch-list finalists for the first Bevo Francis Award, which will be presented this spring to the best men’s college basketball player outside of the NCAA Div. I ranks.
It is the second major honor this week for Wiggs, who was recognized Monday on the five-player D2CCA First Team All-West Region honors in voting by sports information directors.
“This is the inaugural year for this award, but it has implemented a very thorough evaluation system and has a distinguished panel making the decisions,” said UAA head coach Rusty Osborne. “Suki showed this year that he’s among the elite players at our level, and this is well deserved recognition.”
A transfer from the University of Idaho, the 6-4 guard was a unanimous All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference First Team selection and the GNAC Newcomer of the Year after leading the league and ranking 11th in NCAA Div. II with 24.1 points per game. Wiggs also posted league ranks of third in rebounding (7.3 rpg), ninth in assists (3.3 apg), third in steals (1.6 spg), first in defensive rebounding (6.2 drpg) and first in minutes (34.9 mpg).
The Seattle (O’Dea HS) native started the season with a UAA- and GNAC-record streak of 21 straight 20-plus scoring efforts – the longest streak in NCAA Div. II in the least four seasons – and finished the season with nine such efforts in a row.
After scoring 85 points in the last three games, he rose to No. 2 on UAA’s single-season scoring list with 770 points, while crushing the previous school record for free throws with 243. Wiggs scored at least 30 points on six occasions and posted eight double-doubles, while also leading the Seawolves with 21 blocks.
Named for former Rio Grande star Clarence ‘Bevo’ Francis, the new award is presented by SmallCollegeBasketball.com. The next round of finalists will be announced Apr. 1.
Click here for the complete Top 25 Watch List: http://media.wix.com/ugd/cb7218_07dddf25ee9144ba922f9d06159b7927.pdf
Nate Sagan
Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations
University of Alaska Anchorage
3211 Providence Dr.
Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 786-1295 / nate@uaa.alaska.edu
GoSeawolves.com
No comments:
Post a Comment