Guards dominate men's "Baad" Team
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
There's a simple story about the 2006-07 Black College Sports Page Baad Team of men's basketball all-stars.
It's a guard's world.
That's because this year, three of the
four players of the year in black college conferences
the CIAA, MEAC and SWAC
and players of the year in two non-black college conferences,
all played the guard position. Add that to the fact
that four of the five scorched the nets for above
26 points per game and its easy to see why they
were this year's dominant players and merit selection
to our first team of all-stars.
Leading the pack and the scoring parade is the BCSP Player of the Year, 6-5 do-everything senior guard Trey Johnson of SWAC Tournament champion Jackson State.
Johnson led all of NCAA Div. I in scoring
for most of the year before finishing second to
Reggie Williams of VMI. Johnson's 27.1 points per
game average was just one point behind Williams'
pace and earned him the SWAC regular season player of the year and tournament most valuable
player awards, the latter earning JSU the league's
automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Johnson was the lone black college player invited
to Friday's NABC All-Star game at the Final Four in Atlanta.
Joining Johnson on the first team and just behind him in scoring numbers is West Virginia State junior Ted Scott, who averaged an NCAA Div. II best 27.0 points per game to earn the WVIAC player of the year award and lead WVSU to the WVIAC tournament championship.
Six-four junior guard Tremaine Stevens of Florida Memorial was the Florida Sun Conference player of the year averaging a league-best 26.7 points per game. He then added the tourney MVP award to his haul, leading the fourth-seeded Lions to the title and a berth in the NAIA Div. II national tournament.
Bowie State senior Gil Goodrich, a 5-10 guard who began his college career at Howard, became the first white player to win the CIAA player of the year award, and he earned it. Goodrich averaged a league-best 26.0 points per game before surrendering that title late in the season to Scott. Goodrich also led the CIAA in assists (7.3), and three-pointers (4.1 pg.).
The final member of the first team did not put up big scoring numbers but was picked as the best player in the MEAC for the second year in a row. Six-six guard Jahsha Bluntt led Delaware State to its third straight regular season title and second consecutive NIT berth averaging 15.5 points per game.
The men's second team consists of high scoring (22.4 ppg.) St. Augustine's senior guard Antonio Fitzgerald, Hampton junior guard Rashad West, the MEAC scoring leader (17.8 ppg.), 6-7 SIAC Player of the Year, junior Kenny Jones of Kentucky State (19 ppg., 9.3 rpg.), CIAA rebounding leader (10.5 rpg.) and tourney MVP, Anthony Hilliard of Elizabeth City State and senior center of MEAC Tourney champion Rome Sanders.
© 2007 Azeez Communications, Inc.