Ragin? Cajun News

2/26/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

SOUTHALL GETS SBC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR Feb. 26, 2002

LAFAYETTE - Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun basketball fans probably had no idea who Michael Southall was in early August. He had a season they may not soon forget.

The 6-11 center was honored for his stellar campaign by being named Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year, the league announced Tuesday evening. Southall and junior guard Anthony Johnson were also named to the All-Conference team.

Southall, a native of West Salem, Wis., had one of the best freshman seasons in recent history. After not even enrolling at the school until right when fall classes began in mid-August, Southall went on to shatter the single-season school record with 86 blocked shots.

He averaged 13 points per game, along with a team-best 7.6 rebounds per contest. In league games, the former high school All-American put up more than 15 points and nine boards per contest. He scored 26 points in two different games and also set a single-game record with eight blocks (done twice).

The new block tally came in his first collegiate road game, when he was just two swats shy of a triple double. It was that contest, at Bradley, where his coach learned he had something special.

"When we took our first road trip and I saw how he zeroed in on doing the extra things it would take for us to be good, I knew he would have a great year," said head coach Jessie Evans. "He learned very early that you can't take a play off at this level. I thought from there he grew by leaps and bounds. He just got better and better as the year went on, and I am very pleased to see he got recognized for that."

Southall became the first freshman to be named to the All-Conference first team since the 1990-91 season.

Joining the rookie was Johnson, who paced the team with 15.1 points per game. A native of Chicago, Johnson averaged more than 16 points in conference games and was one of the more clutch players on the squad.

He easily paced the team with an 80 percent mark from the free throw line. He was 8-for-8 against New Mexico State Saturday, and he sank two free throws with 13 seconds left to give the Cajuns an insurmountable two-possession lead and vault his squad to the West Division top seed in this week's SBC Tournament.

Johnson tied his career high with 33 points against North Texas Jan. 24. He also had a career-best 18 rebounds in the Cajuns' win over Canisius Dec. 29.

Louisiana-Lafayette and Western Kentucky, which won the East Division, were the only schools to put two players on the All-Conference team.

"I thought it was great," Evans said of his tandem's selection. "It shows the respect the other coaches and media has for those guys. You don't get that many chances to show every coach and media person what you can do, and for the most part, those two guys did that night in and night out. I am very happy for them."

New Orleans standout Hector Romero was named SBC Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year. Romero leads the league with 11 rebounds per game and is second with 20.4 points per game. Arkansas State center Jason Jennings was named Defensive Player of the Year, while WKU head coach Dennis Felton was tabbed as the league's Coach of the Year after guiding the injury-riddled Hilltoppers to a 25-3 regular season mark and a 13-1 SBC season.

Sun Belt All-Conference Team

Name???Position?Class??School

David Boyden, ?F??Jr.??Western Kentucky

* Chris Davis??G??Jr.??North Texas

Eric Channing??G??Sr.??New Mexico State

Jason Jennings??C??Sr.??Arkansas State

Anthony Johnson?G-F??Jr.??Louisiana-Lafayette

Lee Nosse??C??Sr.??Middle Tennessee

* Hector Romero?F??Jr.??New Orleans

Derek Robinson?G??Sr.??Western Kentucky

Michael Southall?C??Fr.??Louisiana-Lafayette

Nick Zachery??G??So.??Arkansas-Little Rock