March 17, 2010

NABC All-District Teams

Center Valley, Pa. - A record four Patriot League men's basketball players were named 2010 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division I All-District selections on Tuesday, with Lehigh freshman C.J. McCollum and Navy senior Chris Harris on the First Team and American junior Vlad Moldoveanu and Colgate senior Kyle Roemer on the Second Team.

The four selections break the League record of three previously set in 1995 and then again last season. The two First-Team honorees tie last year's mark for the highest in League history. The honorees were selected in District 13, which consists of a First and Second Team of Patriot League and Ivy League players. Four of the five players that earned First-Team All-Patriot League honors were selected to the All-District Team.

McCollum made history earlier in the month as he was the first freshman selected as the Patriot League Player and Rookie of the Year, and was also honored as a Freshman All-American by The Sporting News last week. He received First-Team All-League and All-Rookie honors as well, and tied a Patriot League record with nine Rookie of the Week awards in 2009-10. McCollum is the leading freshman scorer and 45th overall in the nation with 18.9 points per game, and his 605 points are the most for a freshman in Patriot League and Lehigh history. He is also averaging 4.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.3 steals and is shooting 43% from three-point range and 81% from the free throw line. McCollum earned a selection to the All-Tournament team as Lehigh won the Patriot League Championship on Friday, and leads the Mountain Hawks into the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship First Round on Thursday against No. 1 overall seed Kansas in Oklahoma City at 9:40 p.m. eastern time on CBS. He gives Lehigh an All-District selection in consecutive years after Zahir Carrington was named to the Second Team last year.

Harris leads the Patriot League and ranks in the top 20 nationally with 21.1 points per game. He is also among the national leaders in three-pointers per game, steals and free throw percentage. Harris ends his career as one of the most decorated players in League annals, as he is just the second (Bucknell's Kevin Bettencourt) to land on the Patriot League career leaderboard for points, steals, three-pointers made and free throw percentage. He is one of only 14 players in League history to earn three All-League selections. Harris is Navy's second straight First-Team All-District honoree after Kaleo Kina was named last season.

Moldoveanu got a late start to his season, sitting out the first nine games after transferring in the middle of the previous year from George Mason. But he made a major impact once he got on the court, averaging 18.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. He bumped those numbers up to 20.4 points and 7.5 rebounds in League action. He gives American an All-District selection for a second straight year after Garrison Carr was named to the First Team last season.

Roemer placed third in the Patriot League with 18.8 points per game, an average that puts him among the NCAA top 50. He also averaged 5.7 rebounds for the season. He concludes his career in the top 15 in Patriot League history in scoring and among the top 10 in three-pointers made. Roemer is Colgate's first All-District honoree since Seth Schaeffer was selected to the Second Team in 1998.

Selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC, the 240 student-athletes chosen from 24 districts are eligible for the State Farm Division I All-America teams, to be announced on Saturday, April 3, at 11 a.m. (EDT) at Bracket Town in the Indianapolis Convention Center in Indianapolis, Ind., during the NABC Convention and NCAA Final Four.