Wednesday, March 22, 2017

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Senior guard Taylor Stafford certainly made the most of his only season at Western Washington.

The postseason honors keep rolling in for the GNAC Player and Newcomer of the Year, who was named on Tuesday to both the NABC Division II Coaches All-America First Team and the Basketball Times Division II All-America First Team. Stafford was one of two West Region players selected to the two squads.

In addition, Stafford is one of 22 players selected to participate in the 2017 Reese’s Division II College All-Star Game. Comprised of two senior student-athletes from each of the eight regions in Division II and five senior at-large selections, the game will by played Friday (Mar. 22) at 5 p.m. (Pacific) in Sioux Falls, S.D., at part of the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. The game will be streamed live on the Sanford Pentagon Facebook page.

Stafford and UC San Diego’s Adam Klie were the two West Region selections to the event and will play as past of the East roster.

A senior transfer this season from Division I Evansville, Stafford made an immediate impact on the Vikings as he helped lead his team to the GNAC championship, the league’s season title and WWU’s first NCAA West Region Tournament appearance in four years. He finished third in the GNAC and 14th in Division II with an average of 22.8 points per game. Also selected as the GNAC Championships’ Most Outstanding Player, Stafford set the WWU single season record with 706 points.

Stafford finished in double-digit scoring in all but one of the Vikings’ 31 games this season, which included a 44-point performance at UC San Diego on Dec. 12.

The selection to the Reese’s Division II All-Star Game is the third for Western Washington and the 10th all-time for a GNAC player. Central Washington’s Mark McLaughlin and Western Washington’s Austin Bragg were the league’s last selections to the event in 2014.