Oct. 19, 2005
Contact: Rick Nixon, 210-458-4551
Owens named to SLC Preseason Second Team
SLC Preseason Teams
PLANO, Texas - Led by reigning scoring champion Alan Daniels of Lamar University, five seniors from five different universities make up the first team of the 2005-06 Preseason All-Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Team. The five first-team selections and two of the second-team picks are holdovers from last year’s postseason All-SLC teams, making them automatic placements on the preseason squads. The remaining three spots, all second-team picks, were voted on by the league’s head coaches.
In addition to Daniels’ return as the leading scorer, the second and third most-proficient scorers from the 2004-05 season are also back and find themselves on the preseason first team. Southeastern Louisiana University’s Ricky Woods and the University of Texas-Arlington’s Steven Thomas finished second and third, respectively, to Daniels in scoring last year.
Daniels, a 6-6 forward from Tulsa, Okla., returns after scoring 19.9 points per game as a junior for the 18-11 Cardinal club. He became the first Lamar player to lead the conference in scoring since All-American Don Bryson in 1965. Daniels’ 19.9 points per game ranked him 27th in NCAA scoring.
Woods, a senior forward from New Orleans, La., was the SLC’s Newcomer of the Year a season ago after helping SLU to a regular-season co-championship and O’Reilly Auto Parts/SLC Tournament title. He also helped SLU to the school’s first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. Woods finished the year averaging 17.2 points and was eighth in the league in rebounding at 6.8 per game.
UTA’s Thomas returns as a first-team selection as well. The 6-5 forward from Fort Worth, Texas, comes back after averaging 17.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game for the 13-15 Mavericks last season. Along with his third-leading scoring average, Thomas’ rebound mark was tops in the Southland.
Northwestern State University is represented by three players on the preseason teams, highlighted by first-team pick Jermaine Wallace. A senior guard from Heflin, La., Wallace led a well-balanced attack with 11.9 points per game for the SLC co-champion Demons of 2004-05. He returns for his senior season as one of five starters back for head coach Mike McConathy.
Two other starters back, each of who are preseason second-team picks, are Jermaine Spencer and Clifton Lee. Spencer, the only non-senior on the teams, is a 6-7 junior forward from New Iberia, La., who averaged 8.1 points and 5.0 rebounds last year. Lee, also a 6-7 forward, is from Boyce, La. He enters his senior season after finishing second on the team with 9.5 points per game and tied Spencer for team leadership with 5.0 rebounds an outing.
Rounding out the preseason first-team is Marcus Clark of Stephen F. Austin State University. The senior guard from Marshall, Texas, averaged 13.0 points to rank 11th in the league and was fifth with 3.9 assists an outing for the 12-15 Lumberjacks.
Occupying the final three places on the second-team are Chris Jordan of Sam Houston State University, Andre Owens of the University of Texas-San Antonio and Lamar’s Thomas Fairley.
Jordan, a senior guard from Hitchcock, Texas, was a third-team pick last year who returns for the 18-12 Bearkats after scoring 11.1 points and averaging 3.0 assists as a junior.
Owens, a senior guard from Irving, Texas, was voted onto the second team after scoring 11.2 points, grabbing 4.0 rebounds and blocking 1.4 shots per game for the 15-13 Roadrunners last year.
Fairley, a senior from Long Beach, Miss., scored 8.7 points and pulled down 7.5 rebounds per game in 2004-05. Daniels and Fairley are two of four starters Lamar head coach Billy Tubbs will build around this season.
2005-06 Preseason First-Team All-Southland Conference
Name University Pos. Cl. Ht. Hometown
Alan Daniels Lamar F Sr. 6-6 Tulsa, Okla.
Ricky Woods Southeastern Louisiana F Sr. 6-6 New Orleans, La.
Steven Thomas Texas-Arlington F Sr. 6-5 Fort Worth, Texas
Jermaine Wallace Northwestern State G Sr. 6-3 Heflin, La.
Marcus Clark Stephen F. Austin G Sr. 5-10 Marshall, Texas
2005-06 Preseason Second-Team All-Southland Conference
Name University Pos. Cl. Ht. Hometown
Chris Jordan Sam Houston State G Sr. 6-4 Hitchcock, Texas
Jermaine Spencer Northwestern State F Jr. 6-7 New Iberia, La.
Andre Owens Texas-San Antonio G Sr. 6-3 Irving, Texas
Thomas Fairley Lamar F Sr. 6-9 Long Beach, Miss.
Clifton Lee Northwestern State F Sr. 6-7 Boyce, La.