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Hill and Wright honored as NAIA Men's Hoops All-Americans
KANSAS CITY -- Shorter University's Walter Hill
and Marqise Wright have been named NAIA Men's Basketball
All-Americans according to a release by the organization on
Wednesday afternoon. Both were honorable mention selections.
Hill, a sophomore, earns his first NAIA All-America nod while Wright, a senior, ends his career as a two-time NAIA All-American after garnering his first award last season as a junior.
Both players helped lead the Hawks to 23 wins in 2010-11, the highest win total for the men's basketball program since the 1997-98 team posted an identical 23-8 overall record.
Wright, a native of Gainesville, Ga., departs the Shorter basketball program as one of the best to ever don the Royal Blue and White.
The 6-6 southpaw ranked second on Shorter's roster in scoring at 15.6 points a game this season while leading the Hawks in rebounding for the second straight year, pulling down 8.7 caroms a game. He shot 46 percent from the field, 33 percent from beyond the arc and also plucked 1.1 steals per outing.
Wright led the Hawks with 10 double-doubles, including a 30-point, 11-rebound performance against defending Southern States Athletic Conference champion Southern Poly State. He ranked 10th in the country in defensive rebounds per game (6.5) and 19th in total rebounding.
On his way to All-America and SSAC Newcomer of the Year honors last season, Wright put up 14.9 points and 11.6 rebounds per game and coupled with his school record and national-best 19 double-doubles last year, Wright leaves Shorter with 29 double-doubles in 61 career games while averaging a double-double of 15.2 points and 10.1 rebounds over his career.
He scored 930 points and pulled down 617 rebounds in those two seasons.
Hill, also a native of Gainesville, transferred to Shorter over the summer and made an immediate impact, earning 2010-11 SSAC Newcomer of the Year honors after leading Shorter in scoring at 17.5 points a game and ranking second on the team in rebounding at 7.6 boards a night.
The 6-5 Hill, who took a team-high 371 field goal attempts, shot a blistering 52 percent from the floor and led the Hawks in blocks and steals at 0.9 and 1.7 per game, respectively.
Hill had seven double-doubles, including career-highs of 26 points and 18 rebounds against Southern Poly. He enjoyed a streak of 14 straight games during which he scored at least 11 points and closed out the season with a 28-point effort in a win over Truett-McConnell in the regular season finale and 26 points and five rebounds in Shorter's upset loss to Faulkner in the first round of the SSAC Tournament.
Hill's scoring average ranked 33rd in the NAIA as he reached double figures in 27 of his 29 appearances.
Shorter had two players earn NAIA Scholar-Athlete recognition earlier in the week.
Senior Tyler Watkins closed out his career with his first NAIA Scholar-Athlete award. Junior Justin Gentry was also honored as an NAIA Scholar-Athlete for the Hawks.
