Lumberjack Trio Earn NABC All-District Honors
3/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Stephen F. Austin pulled in a handful of National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) all-district honors as Thomas Walkup and Jacob Parker garnered NABC All-District 23 first team honors. In addition, head coach Brad Underwood was tabbed as the UPS District 23 Co-Coach of the Year, earning the honor for the second-straight year.
· 2015 NABC All-District Teams
The honors came just over a week after SFA put the cap on another memorable season which saw the Lumberjacks post a 29-5 record, notch their third-straight Southland Conference regular season title, their second-straight SLC tournament title and second-straight NCAA tournament appearance.
Walkup's all-district honor comes on the heels of the junior being named a Lou Henson All-American and a finalist for the Mid-Major Player of the Year earlier this week. The Southland Conference Player of the Year, Walkup posted a breakout season for the Lumberjacks leading the team in scoring (15.6 ppg), shooting percentage (.567) and rebounding (6.5 rpg), ranking among the Southland Conference leaders in a number of categories.
Walkup was even more productive during Southland Conference play, averaging 18.1 points and 6.6 rebounds while shooting 61.2 percent from the floor. Four of his five double doubles of the year came in SLC play, including three-straight to close out the regular season in the wins over Incarnate Word, Northwestern State and Sam Houston State to secure SFA's third-straight regular season SLC title.
Parker was named to the all-district team for the second-straight year, earning first team honors in 2013-14. The senior capped his final season as a Lumberjack averaging 13.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, shooting 51.1 percent from the floor. A second team All-SLC selection, Parker was the SLC's top three-point shooter for the 2014-15 season, connecting on 44.0 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.
The 2013-14 SLC Player of the Year, Parker finished the year with four double doubles, including a 16-point, 10-rebound performance against Northwestern State in the SLC tournament semifinals. He closes out his SFA career with 1,251 points, ranking 15th all-time in program history and fifth at the Division I level, while adding 627 rebounds to rank 10th all-time (third at Division I level).
Repeating as the District 23 Coach of the Year, Underwood has already etched his name in NCAA history during his first two seasons in Nacogdoches, establishing himself as the winningest second-year coach in NCAA Division I history with a 61-8 record. The 61 wins surpassed former UNC coach Bill Guthridge's 58 from 1997-99 for the most all-time while his .884 winning percentage tops Everett Case's .873 winning percentage at North Carolina State from 1946-48.
Underwood, who was named a finalist for the Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the Year earlier this week, has compiled a 30-1 record at home during and had the Lumberjacks rank among the national leaders in a handful of categories. SFA led the nation in assists per game at 17.5 while ranking fourth in total assists (596), sixth in field goal percentage (48.7), eighth in scoring margin (+14.3) and 10th in scoring offense (78.6).
The 2014-15 NABC All-District teams were selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC. Located in Kansas City, MO, the NABC was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Kansas. Allen, a student of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, organized coaches into this collective group to serve as Guardians of the Game. The NABC currently has nearly 5,000 members consisting primarily of university and college men's basketball coaches.
2014-15 NABC District 23
First Team
Jalan West -- Northwestern State
Thomas Walkup -- Stephen F. Austin
Denzel Livingston -- Incarnate Word
Jacob Parker -- Stephen F. Austin
John Jordan -- A&M-Corpus Christi
Second Team
Zeek Woodley -- Northwestern State
Desharick Guidry -- McNeese State
Kaheem Ransom -- Sam Houston State
Ladarius Tabb -- Alabama A&M
Rashawn Thomas -- A&M-Corpus Christi
District 23 Coaches of the Year: Brad Underwood, Stephen F. Austin and Mike Davis, Texas Southern
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