Horizon League Announces Preseason All-League Men's Basketball Team

Oct. 12, 2006

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INDIANAPOLIS -- Loyola University Chicago senior guard Blake Schilb leads a group of ten players earning men's basketball Preseason All-Horizon League recognition following a vote by League coaches, sports information directors and media members.

Schilb garnered Preseason Player of the Year honors after finishing second in the League with a 19.1 points-per-game scoring average a year ago. He gained All-America Honorable Mention from the Associated Press in 2005-06 as he led the Ramblers to a 19-11 record---the school's best in 21 years---and also contributed 5.2 points and 3.93 assists per contest. The latter figure put Schilb fifth in the League, and he also rated eighth in blocked shots (0.90 per game), tenth in steals (1.27 per outing) and third in free-throw percentage (.830). Schilb scored 20 or more points 17 times last winter to win First-Team All-League accolades for the second year in a row.

Senior guards Quin Humphrey of Youngstown State University and DaShaun Wood of Wright State University also were First-Team All-League picks a year ago and join Schilb on the Preseason honor roll. Humphrey became only the second player in the League history to top the circuit in both scoring (19.2 points per game) and rebounding (8.3 caroms per contest) a year ago, posting 30 or more points in three consecutive games at the beginning of the League schedule. He scored in double figures in 27 of the Penguins' 28 games, logging a loop-high ten double-doubles. Wood's 17.9 ppg. average was fourth-best in the League, while he topped the circuit with a norm of 1.82 steals per outing.

The Preseason First Team also includes University of Detroit Mercy senior guard Brandon Cotton along with University of Wisconsin-Green Bay senior guard Ryan Evanochko. Cotton ranked fifth in the League with his 17.5 points-per-game average despite playing most of the season with pins in his non-shooting hand following an off-season automobile accident. He also contribute 2.4 assists per contest. Evanochko's rate of 5.16 assists per game leads all returning League players and featured a League single-game-high 14 in the second round of the League Champinship. He also ranked eighth on the circuit charts at 15.8 points per outing, including 30 in one contest.

The Preseason Second-Team unit includes a pair of Loyola entries in senior guard Majak Kou and sophomore forward Leon Young, along with Butler University junior guard A.J. Graves, University of Illinois at Chicago junior forward Othyus Jeffers and Cleveland State University sophomore forward J'Nathan Bullock.

Kou earned All-Defensive Team honors a year ago after finishing among the League's top five players in both blocked shots (second at 1.50 per game) and steals (fourth at 1.57 per contest) last season, but also scored in double figures 20 times on the way to a 12.8 points-per-game average. Young was a member of the League's All-Newcomer Team in 2005-06 after averaging 10.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, ranking fifth in the circuit off the glass. He posted five double-doubles as a freshman.

Jeffers was the League's Newcomer of the Year last winter, collecting 7.6 rebounds per game to rate third in the League. He also maintained rates of 11.6 points and 2.97 assists per outing, scoring in double figures 21 times in his debut campaign, and recorded seven double-doubles a year ago. Graves was 12th in the League with his 13.4 points-per-game scoring average last season, hitting double figures 26 times in the Bulldogs' 33 games. He also was fourth in the League in free-throw percentage (.819) and seventh in steals per game (1.30). Bullock was only the fifth freshman in Cleveland State history to lead the Vikings in scoring, averaging 11.3 points (plus 4.5 rebounds) in only 25.2 minutes per contest. He had 20 or more points three times last season.

The 2006-07 Horizon League men's basketball season opens Nov. 8 when Youngstown State faces Central Michigan University in the opening round of the 2K College Hoops Classic in East Lansing, Mich. Butler takes part in the Preseason NIT, beginning play in that tournament November 13 versus the University of Notre Dame in Indianapolis. The 72-game League schedule begins Dec. 2 with four loop contests, as Detroit visits Wright State, Youngstown State is at UIC, UW-Green Bay travels to Loyola and Cleveland State faces homestanding Butler. UW-Milwaukee opens defense of its regular-season title the following weekend at home versus YSU.

The 2007 Horizon League Championship begins Feb. 27 at campus sites, with the fourth through sixth seeds hosting seeds 7-9. From there, action shifts to the home of the regular-season champion, with the second round and semifinals slated for March 2 and 3, respectively, ahead of the March 6 championship. The higher seed remaining after the semifinals earns the right to host that event---televised live on ESPN---with the League's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament on the line.

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2006-07 Horizon League Men's Basketball Preseason Teams

Preseason First-Team All-Horizon League -- 2005-06 Statistics
Blake Schilb, Loyola (6-7, 220, Sr., G)-* & -- 19.1 ppg., 5.2 rpg., 3.93 apg.
Brandon Cotton, Detroit (6-0, 175, Sr., G)-# -- 17.5 ppg., 2.0 rpg., 2.48 apg.
Ryan Evanochko, UW-Green Bay (6-2, 200 ,Sr., G)-# -- 15.8 ppg., 3.5 rpg., 5.16 apg.
Quin Humphrey, Youngstown State (6-4, 194, Sr., G)-* -- 19.2 ppg., 8.3 rpg., 2.57 apg.
DaShaun Wood, Wright State (5-11, 180, Sr., G)-* 17.9 ppg., 4.5 rpg., 4.68 apg.

Preseason Second-Team All-Horizon League -- 2005-06 Statistics
J'Nathan Bullock, Cleveland State (6-4, 246, So., F) -- 11.3 ppg., 4.5 rpg., 0.32 apg.
A.J. Graves, Butler (6-1, 160, Jr., G) -- 13.4 ppg., 2.3 rpg., 2.42 apg.
Othyus Jeffers, UIC (6-5, 215, Jr., F) -- 11.6 ppg., 7.6 rpg., 2.97 apg.
Majak Kou, Loyola (6-5, 165, Sr., G) -- 12.8 ppg., 4.7 rpg., 1.67 apg.
Leon Young, Loyola (6-6, 235, So., F) -- 10.4 ppg., 7.2 rpg., 0.23 apg.

& - Preseason Player of the Year / * - First-Team All-League in 2005-06 / # - Second-Team All-League in 2005-06