VALDOSTA —
Four Valdosta State basketball players were named to the All-Gulf South Conference teams on Wednesday.
Women’s basketball’s Brittney Nelson was the lone Lady Blazer selected to the second team. She was joined by men’s basketball’s Josh Sparks, James Anacreon and Patrick Diop, all second team honorees.
Valdosta State’s four honorees were the most of any team in the Gulf South Conference. North Alabama, Delta State and Alabama-Huntsville each placed three players on the All-GSC teams, West Florida placed two and West Alabama, West Georgia and Christian Brothers each placed one.
Two of Alabama-Huntsville’s representatives were named the GSC Players of the Year. Jasmine Hammon was named the women’s and Jaime Smith was named the men’s Player of the Year.
North Alabama head coach Terry Fowler was named the women’s Coach of the Year, while Christian Brothers Michael Nienaber was named the men’s, beating out Valdosta State’s Mike Helfer.
Nelson leads the conference in three-point percentage and leads the Lady Blazers with 14.1 points per game and 9.2 rebounds. The only senior on the Valdosta State women’s roster, Nelson has made 40 percent of her three-pointers (58 of 145), and has the Lady Blazers ranked seventh in the latest South Region Standings with a 16-10 record.
Sparks was the only returning player on the men’s roster this season for Helfer. A three-year member with the Blazers, Sparks is second in the NCAA in blocks per game at 3.65 per game. Sparks is averaging 12.7 points and a team-high 8.8 rebounds per game for the 17-9 Blazers.
Diop, who like Sparks has been named the GSC Player of the Week this season, is averaging 13.8 points per game and a team-high 4.1 assists.
Anacreon, a senior transfer from Wichita State, is averaging a team-best 14.8 points per game.
All three players have attempted over 100 free throws this season for the Blazers.
All four student-athletes will represent Valdosta State in the conference tournament on Friday. The Lady Blazers face Alabama-Huntsville at 1 p.m. Eastern.
The Blazers will face Delta State at 6 p.m. Eastern.
The tournament will be held in Birmingham, Ala.
Blazers Blog
Related Photos
-
Brittney Nelson was the only Lady Blazer named to the All-GSC teams on Wednesday. Nelson, a senior, leads the Gulf South Conference in 3-point percentage this season. Ed Hooper | The Valdosta Daily Times
Discussion
4 Blazers named All-GSC
- Blazers Blog
-
-
Blazers fall to Molloy in eight innings
With only one out remaining and trailing by three, the Molloy Lions strung together four hits to plate three runs in the seventh followed by another run in the eighth inning to defeat Valdosta State’s softball team 5-4 in the first round of the 2013 Division II Softball National Championship Tournament on Thursday in Salem, Va.
-
Albritton, Johnson earn All-America honors
Valdosta State softball players Courtney Albritton and Morgan Johnson gathered multiple All-America honors late Wednesday night.
-
Sending the Blazers off
The Valdosta State softball team made the long journey to Salem, Va. Tuesday, leaving Valdosta at 10:30 a.m. with devoted fans cheering them out of the parking lot.
-
VSU softball wins South Region, headed to nationals
For the third time in four years, and second in a row, Valdosta State’s softball team will play in the national championship tournament.
The Blazers won their third South Region championship Saturday, beating Alabama-Huntsville 8-3 in game three of the best-of-three series at Steel’s Diamond at Blazer Park. -
VSU baseball season comes to an end
Delta State scored seven unanswered runs to defeat Valdosta State 7-2 in an elimination game of the NCAA South Region Tournament at the UT Baseball Field Saturday afternoon.
-
Blazers host respected rival UAH in Super Regional
One would expect a matchup featuring two of the top softball programs in Division II to come in the national championship game.
Unfortunately for Valdosta State and Alabama-Huntsville, who have combined to appear in four straight national championship games, they won’t be meeting in title game on Memorial Day in Salem, Va. -
Blazers lose to Delta State, fall to loser’s bracket
If the Valdosta State baseball team is going to win the South Region Tournament, the Blazers going to have to do it from the loser’s bracket.
The Blazers (33-17) dropped their first game of the tournament Thursday, falling to Delta State 4-2 at UT Baseball Stadium.
VSU will face Stillman College, which lost to No. 1 seed and tournament host Tampa Thursday, Friday at 11 a.m. to advance to the weekend portion of the tournament. The loser will be eliminated. -
Former Lady Blazer Ferguson hired to lead Vikettes
The sign above the door still has Shan Garner’s name on it. There is even a Shan Garner plaque sitting on one of the shelves in the corner of the gymnasium office.
That will soon change, though, as Lowndes has hired its newest girls’ basketball coach. -
VSU wins 7th GSC Men’s All-Sports Trophy
Look out Title Town, another trophy is coming to town.
Valdosta State’s athletic department was awarded a seventh Gulf South Conference Men’s All-Sports Trophy Tuesday, sharing the honor with West Florida.
The tie between VSU and West Florida marked the first time in the GSC’s 42-year history that a pair of schools shared the honor. Both schools finished the athletic season with 29.5 points, based on the conference’s point system that gauges athletic success. -
Baseball Heading to Tampa for NCAA Regional Play
The Valdosta State baseball team learned Sunday night that it will open the 2013 NCAA South Region Tournament against Delta State at the UT Baseball Field on the campus of the University of Tampa.
- More Blazers Blog Headlines
-
