Loyola players net a pair of national honors
March 9, 2006
Chicago, Ill. - Junior guard Blake Schilb of Loyola has been selected Third Team Mid-Major All-America by FOXSports.com. The versatile 6-foot-7 guard is the only player from the Horizon League to be named to one of the three FOXSports.com Mid-Major All-America teams.
Schilb leads the Ramblers and ranks among Horizon League leaders with 19.1 points and 3.9 assists per contest. He is also corralling 5.2 rebounds and adding 1.3 steals and 0.9 blocks per game. For the second straight season, Schilb has topped 400 points, 100 rebounds and 100 assists, a true indicator of his versatility.
A starter in 62 consecutive games, Schilb has scored in double figures in 53 of Loyola's last 54 games. He scored his 1,000th career point in January and currently ranks 15th on the school's career scoring chart with 1,351 points. Schilb finished the season strong, topping the 20-point plateau in five of the final six contests, averaging 22.8 ppg, 7.8 rpg and 4.7 apg during that six-game stretch.
Joining Schilb on the third team was Christian Maraker (Pacific), Caleb Green (Oral Roberts), Steve Burtt (Iona) and Ibrahim Jaaber (Penn).
Second team honorees included J.P. Batista (Gonzaga), Paul Miller (Wichita State), Ben Jacobson (Northern Iowa), Rodney Stuckey (Eastern Washington) and Anthony Winchester (Western Kentucky).
Adam Morrison (Gonzaga), Nick Fazekas (Nevada), Paul Millsap (Louisiana Tech), Brandon Heath (San Diego State) and Jose Juan Berea (Northeastern) were named to the first team.
In other Loyola news, freshman forward Leon Young has been tabbed Freshman of the Year in the Horizon League by CBS SportsLine.com. The organization also named Butler's Todd Lickliter as Coach of the Year and Adrian Tigert of UW-Milwaukee as Player of the Year in the Horizon League.
Young averaged 10.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, while shooting .495 (97 for 196) from the field. He recorded five double-doubles this season, the most by a Loyola freshman since 1995-96, and the Ramblers posted a 13-3 recorded when the 6-foot-6 forward scored in double digits.
One of the top free-throw shooters in the conference, Young connected on .837 (118 for 141) of his tries from the charity stripe on the year. The freshman burst onto the scene by recording back-to-back double-doubles to start the season in wins over IPFW and Evansville. In a victory over Bradley, Young notched 21 points and 10 rebound and went for a season-high 23 points and snagged eight rebounds in a late-season victory at Youngstown State.
Young is one of only six freshmen in Loyola history to average 10 or more points per game in his rookie season. His 217 rebounds are the second-highest total for a freshman in school annals.
Loyola is 19-11 overall, its best mark since going 27-6 and advancing to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 1984-85. The Ramblers are waiting to learn their fate from the National Invitation Tournament.
Stories provided by Loyola University Chicago Office of Sports Information
