CHAMPAGNE IS COACH OF THE YEAR; HOLT IS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
BIRMINGHAM, AL -
Having already claimed the Gulf South
Conference East Division title, the
University of North Alabama men’s basketball
team also laid claim to the GSC’s top
individual awards Tuesday when Casey Holt
was named GSC East Division Player of the
Year and Bobby Champagne was chosen GSC East
Division Coach of the Year.
Holt, a senior
from Culleoka, Tenn., and Champgane, in his
fifth season as head coach at UNA, helped
guide the Lions to a 23-7 record entering
Friday’s quarterfinal round of the GSC
Basketball Tournament.
Holt averages
18.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game and
has scored in double-figures 26 times this
season. He has added 11 double-figure
rebound games and has nine double-doubles
and one triple-double. He won three GSC East
Division Player of the Week honors this
season and his 1,133 career points ranks
15th in school history.
Holt’s
selection marks the first time a Lion has
been East Division Player of the Year since
the late Harris Lendor in 1994-95. Prior to
divisional play, UNA had three other players
named GSC Player of the Year, with Coleman
Crawford selected in 1973-74, Otis Boddie in
1979-80 and Maurice Stafford in 1983-84.
Champagne is in
his fifth season with the Lions and is the
third UNA coach to be named GSC men’s
basketball coach of the year. Bill Jones was
selected coach of the year in 1979-80 and
1983-84 and Gary Elliott won the award in
1993-94.
Champagne has
led the Lions to the GSC Tournament in each
of his five seasons at the school and this
year’s break-out season gives him an 82-62
record at UNA.
UNA senior
guard Quinn Beckwith of Tuscumbia was also
selected first –team All-GSC and junior
center Thomas Fraise of New Orleans, La.,
was named second-team All-GSC.
Beckwith, who
missed 10 games due to injury, averaged 16.9
pooints and made a team-leading 80
three-point baskets. He scored in
double-figures in 18 of the 20 games that he
played in.
Fraise averages
14.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game and
has been a force inside for the Lions all
season. He has scored in double-figures 26
times and had seven double-figure rebound
games. He earned three GSC East Division
Player of the Week honors this season.
