April 4, 2012

BEAUMONT - Lamar University senior guard Brandon Davis was named to the 2012 Southland Conference Men's Basketball All-Academic First Team, announced the league office Wednesday.

Davis spent two seasons at Lamar after a stellar two-year career at Southwestern Christian Junior College. A native of Jacksonville, Fla., Davis is scheduled to receive his bachelor's degree in general studies this May.

"It's a great honor, especially for a junior college kid," said LU head coach Pat Knight. "A lot of times, junior college kids get a bad wrap for being poor students, but Brandon proves that with hard work a junior college kid can be successful."

Davis helped Lamar to a 23-12 season and a spot in this year's NCAA Tournament by averaging 8.9 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. He led the Cardinals with 59 3-pointers and finished his two-year career with 114 treys.

Davis registered 14 double-digit scoring games as a senior, including scoring a career-high 27 points in Lamar's 103-67 home win over Central Arkansas. Davis ranked ninth in the SLC in 3-pointers per game at 1.7 and went 8-of-11 from 3-point range against the Bears.

Davis, who is currently sporting an impressive 3.16 grade point average, is one of 10 players recognized by the league office. Joining Davis on the first team were Jeromie Hill of UTSA, Brooks Ybarra of Texas State, Konner Tucker of Sam Houston State and Desmond Haymon of Stephen F. Austin. Hill was selected as the Men's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year.

The second team was Northwestern State's Gary Stewart, Igor Nujic of UTSA, Jordan Kirschke of Texas State, Onochie Ochie of Southeastern Louisiana and Ted Wang of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. All 10 all-academic selections are first-time recipients of the honor.

The all-academic teams are voted on by the head coaches, sports information directors and academic advisors from each Southland Conference university. Student-athletes must possess a 3.0 cumulative GPA, have completed one full academic year at the nominating institution and participated in at least 50 percent of the team's competition to qualify for the all-academic squad.

2011-12 Southland Conference Men's Basketball All-Academic Teams
First Team

Second Team

LAMAR