Click here for a complete list of honorees
The youth movement that has taken place at The Beach was recognized by the Big West Conference on Monday morning.
After winning just six games a year ago, the Long Beach State men’s basketball team has already won 15 and a trio of freshmen are a big reason why.
Guard Larry Anderson was selected as Freshman of the Year and became just the second freshman in 35 years to be named first-team all-conference team and the first since another 49er, Clifton Pondexter, in 1974.
“I was sure [my teammate] T.J. Robinson was going to get it,” Anderson said of the Freshman of the Year honor. “The first-team selection I didn’t expect at all.”
The consensus among Big West coaches was that UC Irvine’s Eric Wise was the biggest impact freshman, but because Anderson was named to the first team, he was automatically slotted ahead of Wise for the award.
The Long Beach native is the third LBSU player to win the award and first since James Cotton in 1994.
“He’s a tough match-up,” Pacific head coach Bob Thomason said of Anderson. “He’s so versatile. Larry had a sensational year; he’s just so tough. I was really impressed with him.”
Anderson is averaging 10.9 points and four rebounds per game this season. He really came on in conference play, especially when leading-scorer Donovan Morris was sidelined.
Morris led a trio of ‘Niners who were named honorable mentions. The senior guard was a first-team selection a year ago and was Big West Player of the Week three times early on in the season, but missed six games down the stretch with a foot injury.
Junior sharpshooter Stephan Gilling also received an honorable mention as did freshman forward T.J. Robinson.
Gilling is the second-leading scorer for the ‘Niners at 11.3 PPG while knocking down almost three 3-pointers per game.
Like Anderson, Robinson got better as the season went on, working his way into the starting lineup and making a big impact. He’s averaging 11 PPG to go along with 6.2 RPG, including 16.6 points and 7.5 rebounds in his last 10 games.
The LBC’s version of T-L-C nabbed three of the five spots on the All-Freshman team.
“[With Donovan hurt] the pressure was on us freshmen to step our game up,” Anderson said. “Coach had a good recruiting class and we had to live up to the hype.”
Anderson, Robinson and Casper Ware were all chosen, giving The Beach eight nods overall for five different players.
“The freshmen have been our most consistent players,” LBSU head coach Dan Monson said.
Ware, a 5-foot-9 point guard, scored 9.1 PPG and led the team with 4.1 assists, running the show with great poise for such a young player.
Josh Akognon of Cal State Fullerton was selected as Player of the Year while Bobby Braswell was selected Coach of the Year from regular-season champion Cal State Northridge.
Great writing
Makes me want to watch Basketball