Oskaloosa–Three Statesmen cagers were honored for tremendous seasons as the NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball All-America teams were announced Thursday.
Dexter Hood (Sr., Tuscaloosa, Ala.) was selected for the 10-person first team, while Kevion Blaylock (Jr., Houston, Texas, Information Technology) collected third-team laurels (10 players on that squad). Karmari Newman (Jr., Detroit, Mich., Digital Communication) was also picked as one of 55 honorable mentions. An additional 10 student-athletes were honored on the second team as well.
The trio pushes William Penn’s All-American tally to 27, including 24 during Head Coach John Henry‘s tenure. They helped the Statesmen to a 30-3 overall record, highlighted by a 21-3 Heart of America Athletic Conference mark. WPU won the league’s regular season and tournament titles and qualified for nationals for the 10th time in school history. Unfortunately, the national tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Hood, who is the fifth first-teamer in school history, led the navy and gold in scoring with 20.2 points, while also averaging 6.7 rebounds. He amassed 56 assists, 35 steals, and five blocks as well, while shooting 57.3% overall (36.1% 3-PT) and 68.5% from the free-throw line.
Nationally, the senior ranked sixth in NAIA Division I in total points (668), ninth in scoring average, and 15th in field-goal percentage. His 2019-2020 campaign was one of the most prolific single seasons in school history as he finished third in field goals made (247), fourth in points, sixth in scoring average, and eighth in free throws attempted (184).
His 20.2 points per game helped Hood to finish his time as a Statesmen fourth on the career list, while he is also seventh in career field-goal percentage at 57.3%.
Although he played in just 20 games, Blaylock’s numbers could not be ignored by the A-A’s selection committee as he averaged a double-double of 16.4 points and 11.2 rebounds. The junior also tallied 35 assists, 15 blocks, and 10 steals, while shooting 55.5% from the floor (40.0% 3-PT) and 84.3% at the charity stripe.
Blaylock made his mark in a few of William Penn’s top-10 single-season categories, including rebounding average (6th), free-throw percentage (7th), and three-point percentage (10th).
Newman excelled from the perimeter, averaging 15.9 points on 37.2% three-point shooting (108-for-290). The junior also collected 3.2 rebounds per game, while posting 48 assists, 31 steals, and one block as well. He shot 39.7% overall and 78.1% from the line.
Newman ended the year third in the NAIA in three-pointers made and fifth in three-pointers per game (3.48), while finishing fourth on WPU’s single-season list in both three-pointers made and three-pointers attempted.
Chris Coffey of Georgetown (Ky.) was named the NAIA’s Player of the Year, while John Moore of Westmont (Calif.) was tabbed as Coach of the Year. Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) Head Coach Austin Johnson received NABC-NAIA Coach of the Year laurels.
For a complete list of NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball All-Americans, go to https://www.naia.org/sports/
