KANSAS CITY, MO – Dixie State junior forward
Tom Whitehead (St. George, UT/Dixie) and BYU-Hawaii senior forward/center Lucas Alves (Casa Branca, Brazil/Colegio Avanqo Ensino Progranado) have been selected to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II West Region All-District Second Team.
The announcement was made by the NABC on Wednesday, March 17, from its headquarters in Kansas City, MO.
Selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC, the All-District team consists of 88 student-athletes from eight districts across the country who are now eligible for the State Farm® Coaches’ Division II All-America teams.
Tom Whitehead (St. George. UT/Dixie), who finished third in the player of the year voting, earned his All-PacWest First Team selection by leading the conference in three-point shooting (45.2%) and ranking second in three-pointers made per game (2.2). He connected on 56 of 124 shots from beyond the arc.
His long-distance shooting elevated him to fourth in the conference in scoring thanks to his 16.6 per game average, while his 5.1 rebounds per game ranked him 16th.
Whitehead shot 52.2% (127 for 242) from the floor, good enough for eighth in the PacWest, while he finished the year fourth in foul shooting after making 82.5% (104 for 126) of his attempts. He also ranked third in blocks per game (1.2) in the PacWest.
Whitehead helped the Red Storm to a share of its first PacWest title and a berth in the NCAA II Championship Tournament.
Alves, who is a four-time All-PacWest First Team selection, earned his third straight Pacific West Conference Player of the Year award in 2009-10.
He averaged 16.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting 52.1% (114 for 219) from the field this season, but you won’t find his name among the conference or national statistical leaders. To be eligible for statistical rankings, players must compete in 75% of their team’s total games. With a 22-6 overall record, Alves needed to play in 21 games but fell just one contest shy of eligibility.
He led the Seasiders to their second straight conference championship – sharing it with Dixie State – and their third consecutive appearance in the NCAA II West Region title game.
Located in Kansas City, MO, the NABC was founded in 1927 by Forrest “Phog” Allen, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Kansas. Allen, a student of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, organized coaches into this collective group to serve as Guardians of the Game.
The NABC currently claims nearly 5,000 members consisting primarily of university and college men’s basketball coaches. All members of the NABC are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today’s student-athletes.
The four core values of being a Guardian of the Game are advocacy, leadership, service and education. Additional information about the NABC, its programs and membership can be found at www.nabc.org.