Alves repeats as Player o fthe Year, Judkins, Nurumbi, Chang claim top awards

Lucas Alves repeats as PacWest Men's Basketball Player of Year

Jon Judkins earns Coach of Year; Jet Chang, Engen Nurumbi claim Freshman, Newcomer awards

QUEEN CREEK, AZ - Brigham Young University Hawaii junior center Lucas Alves (Casa Branca, Brazil/Colegio Avanqo Ensino Progranado) has repeated as the Pacific West Conference Player of the Year, while Seasider freshman guard Jet Chang (Yilan Taiwan) was picked as the Rookie of the Year as the 2008-09 PacWest Men's Basketball All-Conference Awards were announced on Wednesday, March 25, 2009, by the league's media office in Queen Creek, AZ.

Dixie State sideline manager Jon Judkins was picked as the PacWest Coach of the Year and Grand Canyon senior center Engen Nurumbi (Kinshasa, Congo/INP) claimed the PacWest Newcomer of the Year honor.

The conference also unveiled its All-PacWest Men's Basketball Team with Alves and Nurumbi leading the list. Both players were selected as First Team members, heading a roster of seven athletes collecting the awards. Seven players were named Second Team, while five were chosen Honorable Mention.

BYU-Hawaii led the conference with five All-PacWest selections, followed by Hawai‘i Hilo with four and Chaminade with three. Grand Canyon, Dixie State and Notre Dame de Namur each landed two players on the squad, while Hawai‘i Pacific posted one.

All-PacWest awards are voted on by the head coaches of the conference. The top seven vote-getters in the weighted poll receive First Team rewards, while Second Team honors go to those who rank between 8-14. The athlete with the most votes is named the Player of the Year and any athlete receiving votes but failing to crack the Top 14 is considered Honorable Mention All-Conference.

Separate balloting is conducted for Coach, Freshman and Newcomer of the Year. Freshman of the Year must be a first-year student-athlete or a second-year student with red-shirt freshman status. The Newcomer of the Year award is for any player making his debut in the PacWest.

Alves, who was named the Daktronics Division II National Player of the Year, led the PacWest in scoring by averaging 19.8 points per game. He ranked third in rebounding with a 7.5 per game average, while he was seventh in shooting with a 52.7% average.

He finished the year with 40 blocked shots and a 1.38 blocks-per-game average to lead the league.

Now a three-time All-PacWest First Team selection, Alves has been a player of the year for all three of his collegiate seasons - twice as the Player of the Year in the PacWest and once as the Rookie of the Year in the league in 2006-07.

Chang finished his inaugural season at BYU-Hawaii by averaging 12.3 points per game - 13th in the PacWest. He shot 51.8% from the field, good enough for eighth overall.

In addition to Alves and Chang, the Seasiders claimed four All-PacWest Second Team selections in senior guard Trenson Akana (Kaunakaka‘I, HI/Moloka‘i), junior guard J.R. Buensuceso (Eagle Rock, CA/Eagle Rock), senior guard/forward Nathan Sims (Sky Valley, CA/Desert Hot Springs) and sophomore guard Marques Whippy (Bua, Fiji). It marked the first All-PacWest honor for each athlete.

Akana ranked 12th in the league in scoring, averaging 12.4 points per game, while he also topped the league in three-point shooting (48.4%). He made 62 of 128 long-range field goal attempts and ranked second in three-pointers made per game (2.58).

Buensuceso topped the PacWest in assists per game with a 6.00 per game average, while his 1.97 steals per outing ranked fourth in the league for the year. He averaged 11.4 points per game (18th) and dropped 1.72 three-pointers made per contest (9th).

Whippy was a monster of the defensive boards, averaging 7.4 rebounds per game to rank fourth among all PacWest players. He also topped the league in steals per contest (2.29) after totaling 64 thefts this year.

Sims cracked the Top 10 in scoring in the PacWest this season, sinking 12.5 points per game while also averaging 6.2 rebounds per contest. He also ranked 10th in pulling down boards per outing.

An excellent shooter, Sims finished fourth in the conference in field goal percentage with a 56.6% (124 for 219) barometer reading and a 75.4% conversion rate from the line (98 for 130).

The six BYU-Hawaii players making the all-conference squad led the Seasiders to the PacWest Championship, a perfect 12-0 conference record, a 27-2 overall mark, and the top seed in the NCAA Division II West Region Tournament. BYU-Hawaii fell in the West Region title contest for the second straight year, this time to Cal Poly Pomona.

Nurumbi claimed the Newcomer of the Year award after averaging 15.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. He ranked fifth in scoring, seventh in rebounding and second in blocks per game (1.22) in the PacWest.

Grand Canyon junior forward Dave Cuen (Somerton, AZ/Cibola) made his first season with the Antelopes memorable by claiming All-PacWest Second Team accolades.

Cuen averaged 14.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. He ranked ninth in scoring and 14th in collecting missed shots off the glass. In addition, he ranked fifth in steals per game (1.57).

Hawai‘i Hilo landed two First Team selections and a pair of Honorable Mentions on this year's squad. Senior forward Jay DeMaestri (Mill Valley, CA/Tam) made his All-PacWest debut as a First Team member, while junior guard John Smith (Berkeley, CA/Pinole Valley) jumped from the Second Team last year to All-PacWest First Team membership this season.

DeMaestri ranked second in the league in scoring after averaging 18.3 points per game, and he led the PacWest in rebounding with a 9.3 boards per game average.

DeMaestri also drained three-point shots, averaging 3.44 per game to lead the PacWest. His 38.3% (93 for 243) average was good enough for third in the conference in three-point shooting. Outstanding from the line, the senior hit on 84.8% of his foul shots after making 84 of 99 attempts.

Smith wound up third in the PacWest in scoring, dropping 16.3 points per game. He averaged 3.00 assists per contest (10th in the PacWest), shot 76.3% from the line (9th) and connected on 35.7% of his three-point field goal attempts (6th).

The Vulcans produced a pair of Honorable Mention selections in senior forwards Perry Baggett (Oakland, CA/Crenshaw) and Jacob Briggs (Burbank, CA/Village Christian). Baggett averaged 6.1 rebounds to rank 11th in the PacWest, while Briggs pumped in 12.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per outing to help lead Hawai‘i Hilo. Briggs ranked 15th in scoring, sixth in rebounding and ninth in shooting (51.0%).

NDNU's lone two selections earned Honorable Mention slots. Senior forward Dan Bergeron (San Jose, CA/Fremont) and rookie guard Bennie Murray (Fairfield, CA/Will C. Wood) each wound up in the Top 20 in scoring in the PacWest this season.

Bergeron finished 17th in the league after dropping 11.7 points per game, and he ranked fifth in rebounding (6.9). Murray, meanwhile, averaged 12.5 points per contest to land 11th in the league. He averaged 1.96 three-pointers made per game (7th).

Chaminade s eniors Joel Smith (Lompoc, CA/Lompoc) and Mohamed Tangara (Bamako, Mali/Mt. Zion) each claimed First Team accolades for the Silverswords, while junior guard Noah Gottlieb (Los Angeles, CA/Venice) was named as an Honorable Mention.

Smith ranked fourth in scoring in the PacWest after floating in 15.3 points per game. He also tied for 11th in rebounding (6.1), ranked ninth in assists per game (3.04), finished eighth in steals per contest (1.41), placed third in three-pointers made per game (2.48), and finished fifth in three-point shooting (36.0%).

Tangara was a dominating force around the glass, shooting 59.8% from the floor to rank second in the league, and grabbing 8.7 rebounds per game to also stand second. He was sixth in scoring with a 14.4 points-per-game average, while his 82.6% free thr ow percentage landed him fourth in the PacWest (128 for 155).

Gottlieb ranked third in assists per game (4.96) and 10th in shooting (50.8%) in the conference.

 Hawaii Pacific's lone selection came in the form of a repeat performance thanks to senior guard Jason Curtis (Landover, MD/Du Val) who earned his second straight Second Team honor.

Curtis finished the year seventh in scoring in the PacWest after averaging 14.2 points per game. He was second in assists per contest (5.19) and third in steals per game (2.00).

Judkins did a marvelous job at Dixie State this season, earning the Coach of the Year award. In previous seasons, the PacWest Coach of the Year was awarded to the conference champion, but a change in bylaws around the league installed a voting process starting this year.

Judkins, in his fourth season, led the 2008-2009 Red Storm to a 16-11 overall record and a second-place finish in the Pacific West Conference. In his fourth season at Dixie State, Judkins claimed his first coach of the year honor.

 He mentored senior guard Ryan Sanchez (Ogden, UT/Fremont) to his secon d All-PacWest award, this time climbing from the Second Team last year to the First Team in 2008-09.

Sanchez ranked eighth in the league in scoring after dropping 14.4 points per outing. He also ranked eighth in rebounding (6.5 per game) and was sixth in distributing the ball (3.26 assists per game). A terrific all-around player, Sanchez led the PacWest in foul shooting (85.5%) after draining 115 of 133 attempts. He also was second in steals per game (2.04).

Junior forward Andy Palmer (St. George, UT/Pine View) connected on 54.9% of his attempts from the floor (96 for 175) to rank fifth in the conference in shooting, while he pulled down 4.2 rebounds per contest.