Men's Basketball All-Conference, Award Winners Announced
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – High Point senior forward Arizona Reid and UNC Asheville head coach Eddie Biedenbach have been voted as the 2007-08 Big South Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Year and Coach of the Year, respectively, by the League’s head coaches, sports information directors and media panel, it was announced Monday morning by the Conference office. The panel voted Charleston Southern forward Omar Carter Freshman of the Year and UNC Asheville junior center Kenny George as the League’s Defensive Player of the Year. Coastal Carolina’s Jack Leasure was voted Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the SIDs for the third consecutive season.
Reid (Gaffney, S.C.) repeats as Big South Player of the Year after averaging 24.2 points and 11.1 rebounds for the Panthers this season. He is the first back-to-back winner since UNC Asheville’s Josh Pittman in 1997 and 1998 and the just the fourth multiple winner of the award. Reid, who is one of two players nationally averaging 24.0 points and 11.0 rebounds, is second in the Big South in scoring and leads in rebounds as well as double-doubles (19), 20-point games (21), 10-rebound games (19) and tied for the League-lead in most games with 20 points/10 rebounds (13). He averaged 23.9 points and 11.9 rebounds in Conference action and ranks in the top 10 nationally in points per game and rebounds, and is on pace to become the first player in Big South history to average 20 points and 10 rebounds in a season. Reid, who was an honorable mention Associated Press All-American last year, became the Big South’s all-time leading rebounder Feb. 18 at Coastal Carolina and surpassed 2,000 career points March 1 at VMI. He enters the 2008 Advance Auto Parts Big South Men’s Basketball Championship seven rebounds shy of 1,000 in his career. Reid received 20 first-place votes from the panel for 285 total points, ahead of VMI’s Reggie Williams (six first-place votes and 257 points).
Biedenbach guided the Bulldogs to their first regular-season championship since 2001-02 and the program’s first No. 1 seed in the Big South Tournament since 1997-98, leading Asheville to a 21-8 overall record and 10-4 Conference finish. Asheville recorded its first winning season since 2000-01 and has won its most games since 1983-84, including a season sweep of Winthrop and a victory at SEC member South Carolina in early January. The Bulldogs also received their first-ever ranking in the Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll, reaching as high as No. 12 during the year, and also garnered its first-ever vote in the Associated Press Top 25 ranking the week of Feb. 4. UNC Asheville leads the Big South in four statistical categories: field goal percentage (48.8), blocked shots (Big South season record 188), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.29) and defensive rebounds (26.31 per game). Biedenbach received 23 first-place votes and 77 total points from the panel, ahead of Winthrop’s Randy Peele (three first-place votes and 36 points).
Carter (Charlotte, N.C.) is Charleston Southern’s second-ever Freshman of the Year. He concluded the regular-season with a 15.4 points per game average, good for ninth in the League and highest among all freshmen. He is also sixth in rebounding (6.6 per game) and is on track to become the first freshman to lead Charleston Southern in scoring and rebounding. Carter ranks eighth in the Big South in field goal percentage (43.5), eighth in free throw percentage (73.6), 14th in three-point field goals per game (1.83) and fifth in defensive rebounds (4.69). Carter, who was a six-time Big South Freshman of the Week selection this year (which tied the Conference record), averaged 15.8 points and 7.2 rebounds in Big South games, and recorded six double-doubles during regular-season play, including a 24-point, 11-rebound effort in an 87-82 victory over Liberty. He has nine 20-point games, including two 25-point efforts, and has scored in double figures in 24 of CSU’s 29 games thus far this season. Carter finished with 25 first-place votes and 141.5 points, ahead of teammate Jamarco Warren (two first-place votes and 86.5 points).
George (Chicago, Ill.) receives the Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year Award after ranking first in the Big South and in the top 10 nationally in blocked shots per game with 3.75. The 7-7 center has set a single-season school record with 90, helping the Bulldogs established a Big South single-season team record of 188. George’s presence has helped Asheville hold opponents to a .413 field goal percentage, as just five opponents have shot at least 50 percent this season against the Bulldogs. He did not play in two of those games and in another, he only played six seconds. The other two games saw George play just 11 minutes combined. Averaging just 19.2 minutes a contest, George ranks fourth in the Big South in rebounds with 6.9 and has six 10-rebounding games to his credit this season. He also is fourth in defensive rebounds at 5.33. George’s 90 blocked shots this season are fifth-most in a season in Big South history, and twice this year he tied the League’s single-game record of 10 blocked shots. George received 20 first-place votes and 49 points, ahead of Winthrop’s Mantoris Robinson (nine first-place votes and 32 points).
Leasure (Rochester, N.Y.) was named a First-Team ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-American last week and is the first three-time recipient of the Big South Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year award. He also was voted First-team All-Conference and broke the League’s career three-point record on Feb. 27 at UNC Asheville.
Joining Reid and Leasure on the All-Conference First-team are VMI’s Reggie Williams, UNC Asheville’s Bryan Smithson and Liberty’s Alex McLean. Reid is now a three-time First-team honoree, while Leasure and Williams garner their second career First-team selections. Smithson and McLean receive their first-ever All-Conference honor. The entire 2007-08 All-Conference team is as follows:
First-team All-Conference
Arizona Reid, F, Sr., High Point
Reggie Williams, F, Sr.,VMI
Bryan Smithson, G, R-Sr., UNC Asheville
Jack Leasure, G, Sr., Coastal Carolina
Alex McLean, F, Sr., Liberty
Second-team All-Conference
Chris Gaynor, G, Sr., Winthrop
Michael Jenkins, G, Sr., Winthrop
Kenny George, C, R-Jr., UNC Asheville
K.J. Garland, G, R-Sr., UNC Asheville
Chavis Holmes, G, Jr., VMI
All-Freshman Team
Omar Carter, F, Charleston Southern
Jamarco Warren, G, Charleston Southern
Anthony Breeze, F, Coastal Carolina
Charles Corbin, C, Winthrop
Jeremy Anderson, G, Liberty
Academic All-Conference
Giedrius Knysas, Jr., Charleston Southern
Jack Leasure, Sr., Coastal Carolina
Matt Boswell, Jr., High Point
Kyle Ohman, Soph., Liberty
Phillip Martin, Soph., Radford
Walt Allen, Soph., Presbyterian
K.J. Garland, R-Sr., UNC Asheville
Adam Lonon, Soph., VMI
Player of the Year
Arizona Reid, F, Sr., High Point
Defensive Player of the Year
Kenny George, C, R-Jr, UNC Asheville
Freshman of the Year
Omar Carter, F, Charleston Southern
Coach of the Year
Eddie Biedenbach, UNC Asheville
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Jack Leasure, Sr., Coastal Carolina