April 9, 2008
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Three West Florida basketball players were among the six selected to the Gulf South Conference All-Academic First Team for the 2007-2008 basketball season. In all, five Argonauts made either the First Team selection or the honor roll selection. The five men's basketball honorees, along with nine from the Argos Women's team, gave West Florida the top honor in the Gulf South Conference, for the most winter sports All-Academic selections with 14 total.
The GSC's East Division Men's Basketball All-Academic Team was led by returning standouts, Alabama-Huntsville guard Jordan Brewer, and North Alabama point guard Kenny Johnson. Johnson led UNA to a berth in the NCAA Elite Eight while leading the league in assists per game (5.42). Brewer started in 27 games for UAH this past season, placing second on the team in rebounding (4.3) and adding 5.7 points per game.
Meanwhile, West Florida accounted for three of the four remaining honorees, with forward Lucas Evangelista, forward David Maddux and point guard Tyler Fleming all being touted for successful course work. In addition, West Georgia guard Adam Stanger rounded out the East Division All-Academic Team. Fleming and Maddux are on course to graduate early from UWF, while Evangelista racked up 150 points and 100 rebounds in his two-year career at West Florida.
Head Coach Don Hogan was pleased with the accolades, "I am excited for the team to represent the conference with three first team selections, and along with Clay (Sidner) and Max (Hoggard), we had five selections, which shows the quality of our student athletes here at UWF."
First team selections, Tyler Fleming (3.81 GPA), Lucas Evangelista (3.69 GPA), and David Maddux (3.93 GPA), put UWF in some elite company. It marked the first time in five years, that a team had three representatives on the first team, and tied three other schools with the most in GSC history. Don Hogan was proud, "All three of the guys are very deserving and have done great things for our program in terms of leadership, and they will be missed."
"Tyler was a solid backup point guard for us, and it was a great accomplishment for him to be accepted into dental school. David is a hard working kid with an outstanding attitude, which is why he is successful, and Lucas did a tremendous job for us, and was a great inspiration, with how hard he worked," said Hogan about his scholar athletes.
Tyler Fleming, from Navarre, Florida, just completed his second year as an Argonaut after transferring from Okaloosa Walton Community College. While Tyler is a junior in eligibility he is graduating early, and has been accepted into Dental School at Tufts University in Boston. He is majoring in Pre-Professional Biology, and boasts a 3.81 GPA. Tyler played in 50 games, starting three times in his two years as an Argo, and he has the team's second best assist to turnover ratio. He recorded 17 steals last season, and recorded 96 career points and 51 assists for his career.
David Maddux played three years for the Argonauts, and is also from Navarre, Florida. He is graduating in three years from UWF, as a Business major, with a 3.93 GPA. He played in 59 career games, and had 73 career rebounds, along with 71 career points. He scored a career high and team high 12 points during the final week of the season against conference leader North Alabama.
Lucas Evangelista is from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and is an Exercise Science major, with a 3.69 GPA. Lucas played two years for the Argonauts after transferring from Tallahassee community College. He played in 54 games, starting 18 times. During his junior season, he averaged 5.2 points per game, scoring 141 points, and corralling 100 rebounds. Lucas had the fourth highest single game high for blocks with five against West Georgia during his junior season, and ended with 21 career blocked shots.
Clay Sidner and Max Hoggard earned honor roll selections. Qualification for this particular honor was a minimum grade point average of 3.00, along with a league selected minimum playing contribution. Clay Sidner is a Junior Guard, who is majoring in Business, with a 3.03 GPA. Sidner was previously named to the All-State Junior College Academic team, when he played at Santa Fe community college.
Max Hoggard is a Sophomore Forward, from Micanopy, Florida, who is majoring in Sports Management, with a 3.93 GPA. Hoggard scored 67 points for the Argos this past season, and has connected on 32.5% of his three point attempts in his Argo career.
UWF's 14 honorees from Men's and Women's Basketball was the best in the conference. Meanwhile, Alabama-Huntsville, Arkansas Tech and Delta State followed with 10 selections apiece. The West Florida Men's and Women's basketball teams are following the pace set by UWF Women's soccer, who led the GSC with the most fall sport selections.
