Four Bearkats Named All-Southland
3/9/2015 12:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball
All four of Sam Houston's senior starters have been named to the 2015 All-Southland Conference men's basketball team.
Jabari Peters was a second-team selection while Kaheem Ransom, Michael Holyfield and DeMarcus Gatlin were named third team.
Holyfield also was named Southland Conference “Defensive Player of the Year” and was a member of the five-man All-Defensive team.
Peters and Ransom both have earned All-Southland honors each of their two years at Sam Houston. The pair were both third team selections following the 2013-14 season.
Following a 24-7 regular season, Sam Houston State led the Southland Conference in selections on the first, second and third all-league teams with four. In 28 seasons as a member of the NCAA Division I Southland Conference, this year marks the first time Sam Houston has had four players named all-league.
The Bearkats are the No. 2 seed at the Southland Conference Tournament at the Merrell Center in Katy this week. Sam Houston has earned a bye into the semi-finals and will play on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
In his fourth season at Sam Houston, Holyfield was named the Southland's top defender, an award in just its third year.
The 6-foot-11 senior center from Albuquerque, N.M., (Manzano H.S.), leads the league with 2.4 blocks per game, which ranks 31st in the NCAA while his league-leading 75 total blocks are 29th-best.
Holyfield is five blocks away from becoming the school's all-time leader, just behind Eddy Fobbs 79 blocks in 2003. He paces the league's top scoring defense and top rebounding team. The Bearkats only give up 58.7 points per contest while out-rebounding their opponents by 7.2 boards per game.
The leading scorer for the 2015 Kats with 10.9 points per game, Gatlin is a three-year starter whose return after an injury red-shirt last year has been a difference-maker for Sam Houston.
The Houston Bush High School product's career points (840) rank in the top 10 all-time by a junior college transfer for the SHSU men. Gatlin has totaled double figures in 17 games this year and was the Kats' leading scorer in five contests.
Ransom is Sam Houston's second-leading scorer this season, averaging 10.0 points per game. The Wichita, Kansas, product has led the SHSU men in scoring nine times this year. His top scoring game was 20 points against Houston Baptist. He has scored in double figures in 17 contests.
Last year's Southland Conference “Newcomer of the Year,” Peters has averaged 9.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game while leading the Kats to a league runner-up finish with a 15-3 conference mark.
The senior from Brooklyn, NY, led the Kats in scoring eight times this season and scored in double figures in 16 games. His season best performance was 20 points in last week's victory at Lamar.
The 2015 Southland Conference Basketball Tournament will be played this week at the Leonard E. Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. The opening round of the tournament is Wednesday. The semifinals will be played on Friday and be broadcast solely on ESPN3, while the championship game will be played Saturday at 8:30 p.m. and covered exclusively on ESPN2 and WatchESPN.
2015 All-Southland Conference Men's Basketball Team
|
First Team |
Institution |
Pos. |
Class |
Hometown |
|
Thomas Walkup |
Stephen F. Austin |
G/F |
Jr. |
Pasadena, Texas |
|
Jalan West |
Northwestern State |
G |
Jr. |
Bossier City, La. |
|
Denzel Livingston |
UIW |
G |
Sr. |
Houston, Texas |
|
Desharick Guidry |
McNeese State |
F |
Sr. |
Lake Charles, La. |
|
John Jordan |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
G |
Sr. |
Houston, Texas |
|
Second Team |
Institution |
Pos. |
Class |
Hometown |
|
Jacob Parker |
Stephen F. Austin |
F |
Sr. |
Bixby, Okla. |
|
Zeek Woodley |
Northwestern State |
G |
So. |
Pelican, La. |
|
Rashawn Thomas |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
F |
So. |
Oklahoma City, Okla. |
|
Sam Houston |
G |
Sr. |
Brooklyn, N.Y. |
|
|
Tyran de Lattibeaudiere |
Lamar |
F |
Sr. |
Kingston, Jamaica |
|
Third Team |
Institution |
Pos. |
Class |
Hometown |
|
Kevin Hardy |
McNeese State |
G |
Sr. |
Lake Charles, La. |
|
Sam Houston |
G |
Sr. |
Wichita, Kan. |
|
|
Anthony Holliday |
Lamar |
G |
Sr. |
Los Angeles, Calif. |
|
Sam Houston |
C |
Sr. |
Albuquerque, N.M. |
|
|
Sam Houston |
G |
Sr. |
Houston, Texas |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sam Houston State |
C |
Sr. |
Albuquerque, N.M. |
|
|
Kevin Hardy |
McNeese State |
G |
Jr. |
Lake Charles, La. |
|
Tyran de Lattibeaudiere |
Lamar |
F |
Sr. |
Kingston, Jamaica |
|
Jalan West |
Northwestern State |
G |
So. |
Bossier City, La. |
|
Thomas Walkup |
Stephen F. Austin |
G/F |
Jr. |
Pasadena, Texas |
Player of the Year: Thomas Walkup, Stephen F. Austin
Defensive Player of the Year: Michael Holyfield, Sam Houston State
Freshman of the Year: Jordan Howard, Central Arkansas
Newcomer of the Year: Tyran de Lattibeaudiere, Lamar
Coach of the Year: Brad Underwood, Stephen F. Austin
