All-Southland Conference Men's Basketball Teams Announced

College Basketball News

Six all-conference selections from last year return, including A&M-Corpus Christi’s Palmer, the league’s top scorer

FRISCO, Texas – Six players who earned All-Southland Conference honors last season, including Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Kevin Palmer, return for the 2009-10 campaign and each has automatically qualified for the preseason all-conference teams, the league office announced Wednesday.

Among the returning all-conference players are two first-team selections from a season ago in Palmer and Sam Houston State guard Corey Allmond. The pair remain on the first team in the preseason.

Palmer, a 6-foot-6, 205-pound swingman, led the conference in scoring last season, averaging 18.2 points per game. He started all 33 games last year and averaged 2.6 steals per game to rank 11th in the nation. The senior from Baltimore, Md., set the school’s single season record with 86 steals and scored 599 points, the second-highest single season in Islanders’ history. Allmond, a senior from Oxon Hill, Md., led the conference and ranked No. 14 nationally in three-pointers per game (3.3). The 6-foot-1, 180-pounder set the school season record with 99 three-point baskets and averaged 15.3 points per game to rank eighth in the Southland.

That duo is joined on the first team by UT Arlington swingman Marquez Haynes, Sam Houston State guard Ashton Mitchell and Nicholls forward Anatoly Bose.

Haynes, a 6-foot-3 senior from Irving, Texas, was a second-team all-conference selection in 2008-09 after playing in all 30 games. He ranked third among conference leaders in scoring, averaging 16.5 points per game. Haynes also ranked fourth in minutes played (32.2), sixth in free-throw percentage (79.0) and ninth in assists (3.4).

Mitchell was a second-team all-conference selection last season after becoming the fifth point guard under Sam Houston State head coach Bob Marlin to lead the Southland and rank nationally in assists. The senior from New Orleans, La., ranked fifth in Division I with 6.9 assists. The 5-foot-11, 175-pounder ranks third in school history with 399 assists.

Bose rounds out the preseason first-team selections. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound junior, led the Colonels in three-point field goal percentage, making 72-of-172 attempts from behind the arc for a .419 average. A native of Sydney, Australia, Bose finished second on the team in scoring with 15.0 points per game.

UTSA guard Devin Gibson is the last returning all-conference player from 2008-09 and comes back as a preseason second-team selection. A junior from Houston, Texas, Gibson earned third-team honors last year after averaging 12.3 points per game and his 3.0 steals per game ranked third in the nation. The 6-foot, 170-pound guard was a conference all-tournament selection after averaging 17.5 points in three games, helping the Roadrunners advance to the championship game for the first time since 2004.

Gibson is joined on the preseason second team by Southeastern Louisiana center Patrick Sullivan, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi forward Justin Reynolds, UT Arlington forward Tommy Moffitt and UTSA guard Omar Johnson.

Sullivan, a 6-foot-9, 215-pound post, enters his final season as Southeastern’s all-time leader in blocked shots (175) and is second in field goal percentage (.580). The senior from Orlando, Fla., finished as the team’s leader in scoring (12.1), rebounds (7.0), blocked shots (64) and field goal percentage. He ranked third in the Southland in field-goal percentage, fourth in blocked shots and eighth in rebounds.

Reynolds, a 6-foot-8, 230-pound forward, was an honorable mention all-Southland performer last season when he averaged 8.1 points and 4.7 rebounds in 27 starts in 33 games played. The junior from Pearland, Texas, finished third for the Islanders with 30 steals and was fourth with 17 blocks.

Moffitt made 20 starts and played in 30 games last season at UT Arlington. The senior from Irving, Texas, was a second-team conference all-academic selection, who averaged 7.5 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-5, 240-pounder finished second on the team and 14th in the league in rebounding and shot a team-best 52.4 percent from the field.

Johnson was an honorable mention all-conference selection last year, his first with the Roadrunners. The 5-foot-7, 150-pound guard averaged 12.6 points, 4.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds, 1.9 steals in 33.5 minutes per game. The senior from Philadelphia, Pa., shot 40 percent from beyond the three-point arc.

Sam Houston State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, UT Arlington and UTSA each placed two players on the preseason all-conference teams. Nicholls and Southeastern each placed one.

The 2009-10 season gets underway Friday, Nov. 13 when eight Southland teams take to the court. Conference play does not commence until Saturday, Jan. 9. The 2010 State Farm Southland Conference Basketball Tournament will return for its third season at the Leonard E. Merrell Center in Katy, Texas, March 10-13.

2009-10 Preseason All-Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Teams

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