SFA’s Parker Named Men’s Basketball Player of the Year
Southland Conference
FRISCO, Texas – Stephen F. Austin junior Jacob Parker has been named the 2013-14 Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Year by a vote of the league’s head coaches and sports information directors, the conference office announced Monday in conjunction with the release of the all-conference basketball teams.
Among the league’s other postseason award winners are Northwestern State sophomore guard Jalan West, who was named the defensive player of the year, Northwestern State rookie Zeek Woodley, the freshman of the year, Sam Houston State junior guard Jabari Peters, the newcomer of the year, and first-year Stephen F. Austin mentor Brad Underwood, the coach of the year.
Parker helped lead the Lumberjacks to their second consecutive Southland regular-season championship and their fourth overall. The forward from Bixby, Okla. (Bixby H.S.), is averaging 14.5 points and 7.1 rebounds to pace SFA. Among the conference leaders, Parker is highly ranked in several statistical categories, including second in free-throw percentage (.870), fifth in offensive rebounds (2.5), seventh in rebounding (7.1), ninth in field goal percentage (.537), 11th in scoring (14.5) and 12th in defensive rebounds (4.5). He has scored in double figures in all but five of the Lumberjacks’ 31 games and scored 20 or more points five times, including a season-high 31 points at Marshall in November. Parker has nine career double-doubles (all this season) and cleared a season-high 13 rebounds against Northwestern State in January. Parker is the fourth Lumberjack to earn the award and is the second consecutive SFA winner. Taylor Smith won the award last season, while Josh Alexander and Matt Kingsley won the award in consecutive seasons in 2008 and 2009.
SFA also took home its second consecutive coach of the year award. Underwood, who joined the Lumberjacks after a long career as an assistant coach, most recently at South Carolina, and previously at Kansas State under Frank Martin and Bob Huggins, is making a name for himself in his first season as a head coach. The Lumberjacks carry a 29-2 record into this week’s conference tournament and have a chance to become the first Southland team to win 30 games. The record ranks in the top-10 all-time starts by a first-year head coach in NCAA history. Underwood’s squad became the first in the Southland to navigate a perfect 18-game schedule and is the first undefeated league champion since Arkansas State in 1967. No team in the league’s 51-year history had gone undefeated in more than an eight-game schedule.
Under Underwood’s tutelage, the Lumberjacks became the first Southland team to win 29 games in the regular season, matching the 1985 Louisiana Tech team that finished 29-3 after reaching the “Sweet 16.” SFA finished a perfect 15-0 at home for the second consecutive year and has run its home-court win streak to 33 games, which is tied with Duke for the best in Division I. The team’s 26-game overall win streak obliterated the former conference record of 19 set by Louisiana Tech in 1992-93 and 1993-94. SFA leads the nation with 14 road wins this season and their current 12-game road win streak is tied with Wichita State for the national lead. Underwood follows former SFA coach Danny Kaspar, who won the award last season, and is the fourth Lumberjack recipient of the honor. Kaspar was a two-time Southland coach of the year (2008 and 2013) and Ned Fowler claimed the honor in 1991.
A season after earning conference freshman of the year honors, West was named the Southland’s top defender, an award in just its second year. The 5-foot-10 sophomore guard from Bossier City, La. (Bossier H.S.), leads the Demons in scoring with 18.9 points per game, which ranks fifth in the Southland. He paces the conference with 6.6 assists and 2.6 steals per game to go with a conference-best 87.7 free-throw aim. In league play, he averaged 7.1 assists per contest. West, who has been heralded by Bleacher Report as one of the nation’s best players under 6-feet tall, is the only Division I player who averages at least 18.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game. West has tied the school record with 76 steals this season and he ranks fifth in the NCAA. He ranks eighth nationally in assists and is one of only two Division I players to rank among the top 10 in both assists and steals. West ranks seventh on the school’s career list in steals with 151 and is on pace to eventually shatter the school record of 264.
Woodley gives the Demons back-to-back freshman of the year winners. Overall, the guard from Pelican, La. (All Saints H.S.), is the third Northwestern State player to earn freshman of the year honors. He and West have a lot to do with how the Demons closed the year, with victories in 11 of their last 13 games, rallying the team from a 1-4 league start. Woodley is the top-scoring freshman in the conference, averaging 14.1 points per game overall and 14.4 points in conference action. His 63.2 field-goal percentage leads all Southland players and ranks third nationally. He is also shooting 42.9 percent on 3-pointers and 81.2 percent at the foul line. Woodley, who maintained a 3.2 grade-point average in his first college semester, was a three-time Louisiana Class C MVP in high school.
Peters is the fourth player from Sam Houston State to earn newcomer of the year accolades and the first since Gilberto Clavell in 2010. Peters, a junior guard from Brooklyn, N.Y. (Grady H.S.) is a junior college transfer from Seward (Kan.) County Community College and has made an immediate impact in Huntsville. One of five players who started every game for the Bearkats, he led the team in scoring with 12.9 points per game. Peters is tied for fifth in the league with 4.2 assists per game and his 1.8 assist-to-turnover ratio is seventh in the Southland. He has scored 20 points or more five times and has scored in double figures in 18 games. He has led the Bearkats in scoring 11 times this season and tallied a season-high 29 points against Prairie View A&M in November. He hit the game-winning 3-pointer against 2013 NCAA tournament team James Madison in December. Peters recorded his second double-double of the season against New Orleans to close the regular season, going for 11 points and season-high 10 assists. Other Bearkats that have been named newcomer of the year include Jejuan Plair in 2006 and Donald Cole in 2002.
Parker headlines the all-conference teams as one of five players named to the first team. West joins him on the first team as do Oral Roberts guard/forward Shawn Glover, who has garnered postseason all-league honors in both of his Southland seasons; Texas A&M-Corpus Christi junior guard John Jordan; and Central Arkansas senior guard LaQuentin Miles, now a three-time all-conference selection.
Three first-team selections rank among the league’s top-four scorers. Miles led the league with 23.2 points per game in his abbreviated 21-game season after regaining his eligibility in mid-December. Miles, who earned third-team recognition in 2012 and 2013, is also the highest ranked of the five in rebounding, pulling down an average of 7.5 rebounds per game to rank fourth. Parker ranks seventh (7.1). Glover is ranked second in scoring, pouring in 21.7 points per game, while West is fourth, scoring 18.9 per outing. Jordan ranks second in the league with 5.2 assists per game and ranks 10th in scoring with 14.9 points per game.
The second team is comprised of SFA senior guard Desmond Haymon (14.2 points per game, 3.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists), UIW junior guard Denzel Livingston (20.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 3.8 apg), Northwestern State senior forward DeQuan Hicks (15.1 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 2.7 apg), Oral Roberts sophomore guard Korey Billbury (15.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg) and McNeese State senior guard Ledrick Eackles (17.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg). Hicks is a repeat second-team selection, having received the nod last year as a junior.
The third-team choices each are receiving all-league laurels for the first time, including Sam Houston’s Peters, the newcomer of the year. Joining him on the third team are Nicholls senior guard Dantrell Thomas (15.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg), SFA sophomore guard Thomas Walkup (12.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.0 apg), New Orleans senior forward Cory Dixon (13.5 ppg, 7.7 rpg) and Sam Houston junior guard Kaheem Ransom (11.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.5 apg).
Four all-conference selections also appear on the league’s five-member all-defensive team, including West, Livingston, Walkup and Glover. The other is McNeese State junior guard Kevin Hardy, who, like West, is on the all-defensive squad in each of the two years the team has been selected.
Ten conference teams placed at least one player on the all-conference teams, led by first-place SFA, who landed three players – one on each of the three teams. Northwestern State, Oral Roberts and Sam Houston State each garnered two selections. Central Arkansas, McNeese State, Nicholls and A&M-Corpus Christi were joined by first-year members UIW and New Orleans with one selection each.
All three all-conference teams and the all-defensive team are listed below.
The 2014 Southland Conference Basketball Tournament will be played this week at the Leonard E. Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. The opening round of the tournament is Wednesday, followed by the second round on Thursday. Those four games will be streamed live on the Southland Conference Digital network, which is available online at Southland.org and on the league’s mobile and tablet apps for iPhone and Android. The semifinals will be played on Friday and be broadcast on ESPN3, while the championship game will be played Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2. Tickets for the tournament are available through Ticketmaster or at the Merrell Center box office.
2013-14 All-Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Teams
|
First Team |
Institution |
Pos. |
Class |
Hometown |
|
Jacob Parker |
Stephen F. Austin |
F |
Jr. |
Bixby, Okla. |
|
Shawn Glover2 |
Oral Roberts |
G/F |
Sr. |
Dallas, Texas |
|
Jalan West |
Northwestern State |
G |
So. |
Bossier City, La. |
|
John Jordan |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
G |
Jr. |
Houston, Texas |
|
LaQuentin Miles3 |
Central Arkansas |
G |
Sr. |
Jacksonville, Ark. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Second Team |
Institution |
Pos. |
Class |
Hometown |
|
Desmond Haymon |
Stephen F. Austin |
G |
Sr. |
Pickens, Miss |
|
Denzel Livingston |
UIW |
G |
Jr. |
Houston, Texas |
|
DeQuan Hicks2 |
Northwestern State |
F |
Sr. |
Racine, Wis. |
|
Korey Billbury |
Oral Roberts |
G |
So. |
Tulsa, Okla. |
|
Ledrick Eackles |
McNeese State |
G |
Sr. |
Baton Rouge, La. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Third Team |
Institution |
Pos. |
Class |
Hometown |
|
Dantrell Thomas |
Nicholls |
G |
Sr. |
Many, La. |
|
Jabari Peters |
Sam Houston State |
G |
Jr. |
Brooklyn, N.Y. |
|
Thomas Walkup |
Stephen F. Austin |
G |
So. |
Pasadena, Texas |
|
Cory Dixon |
New Orleans |
F |
Sr. |
Argyle, Texas |
|
Kaheem Ransom |
Sam Houston State |
G |
Jr. |
Wichita, Kan. |
2 indicates two-time all-conference selection
3 indicates three-time all-conference selection
Honorable Mention: Nimrod Hilliard, Lamar; Kevin Hardy, McNeese State; Desharick Guidry, McNeese State; JaMichael Hawkins, Southeastern Louisiana; Brison White, Northwestern State; Zeek Woodley, Northwestern State.
|
All-Defensive Team |
Institution |
Pos. |
Class |
Hometown |
|
Jalan West2 |
Northwestern State |
G |
So. |
Bossier City, La. |
|
Denzel Livingston |
UIW |
G |
Jr. |
Houston, Texas |
|
Thomas Walkup |
Stephen F. Austin |
G |
So. |
Pasadena, Texas |
|
Shawn Glover |
Oral Roberts |
G/F |
Sr. |
Dallas, Texas |
|
Kevin Hardy2 |
McNeese State |
G |
Jr. |
Lake Charles, La. |
2 indicates two-time all-defensive team selection
Player of the Year: Jacob Parker, Stephen F. Austin
Defensive Player of the Year: Jalan West, Northwestern State
Freshman of the Year: Zeek Woodley, Northwestern State
Newcomer of the Year: Jabari Peters, Sam Houston State
Coach of the Year: Brad Underwood, Stephen F. Austin