Blue Ribbon Basketball tabs Clavell as one of league's top five players
11/10/2010 6:14:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Athletics
The national publication has tabbed Southeastern Louisiana as the top team in the league's East Division and Stephen F. Austin as the team to beat in the West.
Sam Houston is the defending 2010 Southland Conference regular season and tournament champion. The Bearkats met Elite Eight participant Baylor in the NCAA first round in New Orleans.
Blue Ribbon fills out the Southland West picking Texas State third followed by A&M-Corpus Christi, UTSA and UT-Arlington.
Lamar is predicted to be the runner-up in the East, followed by Northwestern State, Nicholls, McNeese State and Central Arkansas.
Sam Houston's Gilberto Clavell is one of five players selected to Blue Ribbon's preseason All-Southland squad.
The 6-7 forward was a second-team all-conference selection and the newcomer of the year, helped lead Sam Houston to its third regular-season and second conference tournament title. A native of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, Clavell was named to the USBWA All-Region team after an impressive 2010 season. He ranked fourth in the league in scoring (17.1), second in field goal percentage (.573), which also ranked 14th in the NCAA, and ranked 10th in the conference in rebounds (6.4).
Other members of Blue Ribbon's preseason All-Southland squad are Devin Gibson of UTSA, Eddie Williams of Stephen F. Austin, Anatoli Bose of Nicholls and Cameron Johnson of Texas State.
The top two teams in each division automatically qualify for the 2011 State Farm Southland Conference Basketball Tournament, March 9-12, at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. The four teams with the next-best winning percentages round out the tournament's field of eight.
Sam Houston opens its 2010-11 schedule this Saturday, November 13, with a 7:30 p.m. game at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum against Mary Hardin-Baylor.
This week only, Bearkat fans have the opportunity to purchase general admission tickets to all three of Sam Houston's first home games for just $3. That's $1 per game.
The other two contests are against Northwestern Oklahoma State on Monday, November 15 and Saint Thomas on Wednesday, Dec. 1. Both games tip at 1 p.m.
The 3-GAMES-FOR-$3 offer is available online only at www.gobearkats.com. For more information or to purchase other tickets, contact the Sam Houston athletic ticket office located in the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The ticket office telephone is (936) 294-1729
