Levi Headlines SCAC Postseason Awards with Newcomer-of-the-Year; Co-Defensive Player-of-the-Year
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) announced the 2017-18 All-SCAC Men's Basketball teams on Saturday afternoon. Spencer Levi (St. Louis, Mo.) headlined two major accolades for the University of Dallas, as he earned SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year and was Co-Defensive Player-of-the-Year. In addition, the freshman phenomena secured a place on 1st Team All-Conference.
Darrius Colvin (Waco, Texas) and Michael Wambsganss (Denver, Colo.) also received nods on 2nd Team All-Conference and Honorable Mention, respectively. It is Colvin's second straight year to be named on an all-conference team (was honorable mention a year ago), while Wambsganss also gets his first postseason award after his debut year with the Crusaders.
Levi produced one of the most remarkable seasons by a UD freshmen, as he ranked top-10 in NCAA Division III for several categories throughout 2017-18. Entering the tournament his week, the forward was 3rd in field goal percentage, 8th in rebounds-per-game, tied 7th for blocks-per-game, and tied 6th in total double-doubles.
Levi shot over 70 percent from the floor and ends his first campaign at a 70.2-clip. This season he totaled 495 points (19.0), 295 rebounds (11.3), a school record 71 blocks (2.7), and 17 double-doubles. Besides notching the blocks record in a season, Levi shattered the single-game blocks record by three with nine in a win against Johnson & Wales University (CO) on December 2nd. The leagues top rebounder also grabbed 19, which was two shy from tying the school record in a win at home against Centenary College on January 12th. That total tied several others in the SCAC record books for 9th. Levi earned two SCAC Player of the Week honors, two United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Player of the Weeks, a spot on D3hoops.com Team of the Week, and was named with the top 100 on the 2017-18 Bevo Francis Award.
Colvin was named to 2nd Team All-SCAC after notching career numbers for Dallas in his junior year. He finished second in several categories behind Levi including: points-per-game (16.3), total rebounds (145), blocks (19). He led the squad with 97 assists and 28 steals. His 425 points on the season were a personal-best and propelled him to 924 overall.
Wambsganss rounds out the trio of UD players on All-SCAC teams this year. He paced the team 69 made three-point field goals overall and was fifth in the league with a 40.9 three-point field goal percentage coming into the SCAC Tournament. The guard finished third on the team with 317 points (12.7) and had four performances that eclipsed 20 points total. His season-high was 32 versus Hendrix College on December 19th, where he was 10-for-12 from the field and 5-of-7 form three-point distance.
Coaches voted for 15 places for All-SCAC with 15 points awarded for first-place votes, 14 points for second-place votes, 13 points for third-place votes, etc., down to one point for a 15th-place vote. All players not elected to the First, Second or Third Team, but who received at least one vote, were named Honorable Mention. Coaches could not vote for their own players.
Dallas posted a 15-11 record this year and went 8-6 in SCAC games to tie for second place.