SFA’s Walkup Named Men’s Basketball Player of the Year
Southland Conference
FRISCO, Texas – Stephen F. Austin junior Thomas Walkup has been named the 2014-15 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 Sam Houston State senior center Michael Holyfield, who was named the defensive player of the year, Central Arkansas rookie Jordan Howard, the freshman of the year, Lamar senior forward Tyran de Lattibeaudiere, the newcomer of the year, and Stephen F. Austin mentor Brad Underwood, the coach of the year.
Walkup helped lead the Lumberjacks to their third consecutive Southland regular-season championship and their fifth overall. The guard/forward from Pasadena, Texas (Deer Park H.S.), is averaging 15.5 points and 6.5 rebounds to pace SFA. Among the conference leaders, Walkup is highly ranked in several statistical categories, including fifth in field goal percentage (56.9), sixth in scoring and 10th in rebounds. He was even more productive against conference opponents, averaging 18.1 points and 6.6 rebounds in league play. Walkup record five double-doubles on the season, including one in each of the final three games of the regular-season, leading the Lumberjacks to wins over UIW, Northwestern State and Sam Houston State. He became the newest member of SFA’s 1,000-point club, sitting at 1,080 career points as a junior. The two-time conference player of the week is the fifth Lumberjack to earn the award and is the third straight SFA winner. Senior teammate Jacob Parker won the award last season, while Taylor Smith took the honors in 2013 and Josh Alexander and Matt Kingsley won the award in consecutive seasons in 2008 and 2009.
SFA also took home its third consecutive coach of the year award and the second in a row for Underwood. In his second year in Nacogdoches, Underwood led the Lumberjacks to another memorable season with a record of 27-4 and 17-1 in league play to help SFA wins its third straight regular-season crown. Underwood now boasts a career record of 59-7, becoming the all-time winningest second-year coach in NCAA Division I history, surpassing the 58 victories set by North Carolina’s Bill Guthridge from 1997-99, while his .894 winning percentage is tops all-time among second-year coaches. While SFA, Underwood has posted a 35-1 record in league play and a 30-1 all-time record at William R. Johnson Coliseum. Underwood’s squad recorded a 19-game winning streak this season, which is the second-longest streak in school history behind last year’s SFA’s team that reeled off 29 in a row. Underwood is only the third SFA coach to win the honor, joining former coaches Danny Kaspar (2008, 2013) and Ned Fowler (1991).
In his fourth season at Sam Houston, Holyfield was named the Southland’s top defender, an award in just its third year. The 6-foot-11 senior center from Albuquerque, N.M., (Manzano H.S.), leads the league with 2.4 blocks per game, which ranks 31st in the NCAA while his league-leading 75 total blocks are 29th-best. Holyfield is five blocks away from becoming the school’s all-time leader, just behind Eddy Fobbs 79 blocks in 2003. He paces the league’s top scoring defense and top rebounding team. The Bearkats only give up 58.7 points per contest while out-rebounding their opponents by 7.2 boards per game. Holyfield, who averages 7.5 rebounds per game, pulls down 4.8 rebounds on the defensive glass. He also put together five double-doubles on the season, including a 10-point, 14-rebound showing at LSU on Dec. 13, 2014.
On a team with eight freshmen on the roster, Howard proved to be not only the top on the squad, but the best in the league, becoming the first Bear to earn a postseason conference accolade. The point guard from Chandler, Ariz. (Perry H.S.), led the Bears in scoring with 15.7 points per game, which was fifth-best in the Southland. Howard led the conference in 3-pointers made with 77, which is the fourth-most by any player in UCA history and the most 3-pointers made by any UCA freshman. Howard scored in double figures in 28 of the Bears’ 29 games and scored nine points in the lone game he did not reach the double-digit mark. Howard, who ranked ninth in the league in minutes player (33.7), shot an impressive 38.9 percent from behind the arc on the year.
de Lattibeaudiere is the sixth player from Lamar to earn newcomer of the year accolades and the first since Kenny Dawkins in 2008. The senior from Kingston, Jamaica (Vincennes Univ.), was second in scoring for the Cardinals on the year with 13.6 points per game. He finished the season with eight double-doubles, which is second-best in the league. de Lattibeaudiere led Lamar in scoring 11 times and led the team in rebounding 20 times on the season. The forward started all 30 games for Lamar and finished the year with 64 blocks, which is the fifth-best mark in single-season school history. de Lattibeaudiere finished the year ranked third in rebounding (7.9) and blocks (2.1), fourth in the league in field goal percentage (57.4), 13th in steals (1.4) and 14th in scoring. Other Cardinals that have been named newcomer of the year include Lamar Sanders in 2007, James Gulley in 2985, Jerry Everett in 1984 and B.B. Davis in 1978.
Parker headlines the all-conference teams as one of five players named to the first team. Northwestern State junior guard Jalan West joins Walkup on the first team along with UIW senior guard Denzel Livingston, McNeese State senior forward Desharick Guidry and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi senior guard John Jordan. Walkup, West, Livingston and Jordan are earning all-conference honors for the second consecutive season.
The second team is comprised of last season’s player of the year in SFA senior forward Jacob Parker, last year’s freshman of the year in Northwestern State sophomore guard Zeek Woodley, A&M-Corpus Christi sophomore forward Rashawn Thomas, Sam Houston State senior guard Jabari Peters and Lamar’s de Lattibeaudiere. Parker and Peters also earned all-conference accolades a season ago.
The third-team choices are McNeese State senior guard Kevin Hardy, Sam Houston State senior guard Kaheem Ransom, Lamar senior guard Anthony Holliday, Sam Houston State’s Holyfield and Sam Houston State senior guard DeMarcus Gatlin. Ransom is the only repeat selection on the third team, having earned a spot on the third team at the conclusion of last season.
Five all-conference selections also appear on the league’s five-member all-defensive team, including Holyfield, Hardy, de Lattibeaudiere, West and Walkup. West, last season’s defensive player of the year, and Hardy are on the all-defensive team for the third consecutive year while Walkup is making his second appearance.
Seven conference teams placed at least one player on the all-conference teams, led by Sam Houston State, which landed four players. SFA, Lamar, Northwestern State, McNeese and A&M-Corpus Christi each garnered two selections while UIW had one all-conference pick.
All three all-conference teams, including seven additional honorable mention selections, and the all-defensive team are listed below.
The 2015 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, including Southland.org/watch, and on the league’s mobile and tablet apps. The semifinals will be played on Friday and be broadcast solely on ESPN3, while the championship game will be played Saturday at 8:30 p.m. and covered exclusively on ESPN2 and WatchESPN. Tickets for the tournament are available through Ticketmaster or at the Merrell Center box office.
2014-15 All-Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Teams
|
First Team |
Institution |
Pos. |
Class |
Hometown |
|
Thomas Walkup2 |
Stephen F. Austin |
G/F |
Jr. |
Pasadena, Texas |
|
Jalan West2 |
Northwestern State |
G |
Jr. |
Bossier City, La. |
|
Denzel Livingston2 |
UIW |
G |
Sr. |
Houston, Texas |
|
Desharick Guidry |
McNeese State |
F |
Sr. |
Lake Charles, La. |
|
John Jordan2 |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
G |
Sr. |
Houston, Texas |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Second Team |
Institution |
Pos. |
Class |
Hometown |
|
Jacob Parker2 |
Stephen F. Austin |
F |
Sr. |
Bixby, Okla. |
|
Zeek Woodley |
Northwestern State |
G |
So. |
Pelican, La. |
|
Rashawn Thomas |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
F |
So. |
Oklahoma City, Okla. |
|
Jabari Peters2 |
Sam Houston State |
G |
Sr. |
Brooklyn, N.Y. |
|
Tyran de Lattibeaudiere |
Lamar |
F |
Sr. |
Kingston, Jamaica |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Third Team |
Institution |
Pos. |
Class |
Hometown |
|
Kevin Hardy |
McNeese State |
G |
Sr. |
Lake Charles, La. |
|
Kaheem Ransom2 |
Sam Houston State |
G |
Sr. |
Wichita, Kan. |
|
Anthony Holliday |
Lamar |
G |
Sr. |
Los Angeles, Calif. |
|
Michael Holyfield |
Sam Houston State |
C |
Sr. |
Albuquerque, N.M. |
|
DeMarcus Gatlin |
Sam Houston State |
G |
Sr. |
Houston, Texas |
2 indicates two-time all-conference selection
Honorable Mention: Zay Jackson, Southeastern Louisiana; Kyle Hittle, UIW; Jordan Howard, Central Arkansas; DeVonte Upson, Southeastern Louisiana; Anthony Odunsi, Houston Baptist; Christavious Gill, New Orleans; T.J. Carpenter, Nicholls.
|
All-Defensive Team |
Institution |
Pos. |
Class |
Hometown |
|
Michael Holyfield |
Sam Houston State |
C |
Sr. |
Albuquerque, N.M. |
|
Kevin Hardy3 |
McNeese State |
G |
Sr. |
Lake Charles, La. |
|
Tyran de Lattibeaudiere |
Lamar |
F |
Sr. |
Kingston, Jamaica |
|
Jalan West3 |
Northwestern State |
G |
Jr. |
Bossier City, La. |
|
Thomas Walkup2 |
Stephen F. Austin |
G/F |
Jr. |
Pasadena, Texas |
2 indicates two-time all-defensive team selection
3 indicates three-time all-defensive team selection
Player of the Year: Thomas Walkup, Stephen F. Austin
Defensive Player of the Year: Michael Holyfield, Sam Houston State
Freshman of the Year: Jordan Howard, Central Arkansas
Newcomer of the Year: Tyran de Lattibeaudiere, Lamar
Coach of the Year: Brad Underwood, Stephen F. Austin