Men’s Basketball: RU’s Hill receives All-America honors
Junior guard Aaron Hill has been named to the Division II Bulletin All-America Second Team. He averaged 20.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game for the Hawks this season.
Hill was also selected to the All-District First Team in the Midwest Region by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the All-Midwest Region Second Team by Daktronics.
Rockhurst received two of the top individual awards in men’s basketball from the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Hill was named the GLVC Player of the Year and RU head coach Bill O’Connor was voted GLVC Coach of the Year by his peers.
Hill led the GLVC in three-point field goals made (3.7 pg). He also ranked second in scoring, third in three-point field goal percentage (45.1) and third in free-throw percentage (86.8).
 "This is truly a deserving honor for Aaron in a great league," O’Connor said. "This is an outstanding award. This is a positive reflection of the whole team that he was chosen Player of the Year."
Hill was one of four guards named to the All-GLVC First Team. He was named the GLVC Player of the week twice this season.
O’Connor led the Hawks to an 19-11 overall record and to a second-place finish in the GLVC West Division with a 13-4 league record. O’Connor, who has a 222-208 record in 15 years at Rockhurst, also received Coach of the Year honors in the Heartland Conference in 2001-02 and 2002-03.
"This award is a great reflection on the team and the entire coaching staff. It shows that I was coaching the team of the year," said O’Connor, whose Hawks advanced to the NCAA Division II Championships for the second time in the last three seasons.
Rockhurst senior forward Alden Smith was named to the All-GLVC Third Team. He ranked seventh in scoring (14.7 pg), fifth in rebounding (7.0 pg), first in steals (2.1 pg) and sixth in blocks (0.9 pg) in the GLVC.
"Al is a very fine player in an offensive-minded league," O’Connor said. "If you look at his statistics, it shows you how valuable he is to our team."
GLVC Player of the Year: Aaron Hill, Rockhurst, Jr., Guard
GLVC Coach of the Year: Bill O’Connor, Rockhurst
GLVC Freshman of the Year: Braydon Hobbs, Bellarmine, Fr., Guard
All-GLVC First Team
Brandon Dagans, Sr., Lewis
LaVontay Fenderson, Sr., Wisconsin-Parkside
Chartrael Hall, Sr., Bellarmine
Aaron Hill, Jr., Rockhurst
Jamar Smith, Jr., Southern Indiana
All-GLVC Second Team
Chris Ijames, Sr., Drury
Dustin Maguire, So., Northern Kentucky
Leslie Malone, Sr., Northern Kentucky
Anthony Pimble, Sr., Southern Indiana
T.J. Smith, Sr., Kentucky Wesleyan
All-GLVC Third Team
Billy Baptist, Jr., Quincy
Justin Brock, So., Quincy
Phillip Collins, Fr., Saint Joseph’s
Jason Genova, Sr., Lewis
Braydon Hobbs, Fr., Bellarmine
Brandon Mayse, Sr., Saint Joseph’s
Keith Radcliff, Sr., Indianapolis
Brandon Russ, Jr., Southern Indiana
Alden Smith, Sr., Rockhurst
DeAaron Williams, Sr., Northern Kentucky |
