Friday, February 10, 2017

PORTLAND, Ore. – Four Great Northwest Athletic Conference basketball players are being honored for excellence on the court and in the classroom with selections to the CoSIDA Division II Academic All-District 8 Men’s and Women’s Basketball Teams.

The conference received three of the five selections to the District 8 women’s squad: Montana State Billings’ Tiana Hanson, Seattle Pacific’s Jordan McPhee and Alaska’s Jordan Wilson. All three players were elected with cumulative grade point averages over 3.90. Saint Martin’s Fred Jorg was the lone GNAC selection to the District 8 men’s team.

With their selection to the district squads, the four players are eligible to be selected for the CoSIDA Division II Academic All-American Teams. Voted upon by college athletic communications professionals from across the nation, the All-America teams will be announced on Wed., Mar. 1.

Hanson, who has a 4.00 grade point average as an elementary education major, has carried the scoring weight for a Montana State Billings team that has struggled through injuries. She is fifth in the GNAC in scoring at 15 points per game and is fourth in rebounding in 6.9 rebounds per game, leading the Yellowjackets in both categories, and is eighth in league in free throw shooting at 84.7 percent (122 for 144). Hanson is the only active senior on the Montana State Billings roster.

McPhee, a junior with a 3.98 GPA as a business major, has been one of the catalysts for Seattle Pacific’s rebound into the top half of the conference standings. The guard is the Falcons’ second leading scorer at 11 points per game as well as the second leading rebounder at 5.1 boards per game. McPhee has scored a season-high 20 points on two different occasions, most recently on Jan. 26 in a 68-63 win at Northwest Nazarene.

Wilson, who has a 3.94 GPA as an education major, has developed into one of Division’s II’s most prolific scorers. She leads the GNAC and is sixth in Division II with an average of 21.4 points per game. The senior has scored 20 or more points in 14 of the Nanooks’ games this season and has 30-point efforts in four of them. With 1,659 career points entering the week, Wilson moved into No. 6 on the GNAC’s all-time scoring list.

With a 4.00 GPA as a graduate student working towards his degree in business administration, Jorg has been a key presence for Saint Martin’s since transferring from Division I Eastern Washington for the 2015-16 season. A starter in 21 of the Saints’ 23 games, Jorg is averaging 8.2 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.

Nominated and voted upon by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), nominees to the Academic All-District Teams must be a sophomore standing or greater, be in their second year at the nominating institution, be a starter or important reserve for their team and have a 3.30 cumulative GPA or greater.