North Lake Men's Hoops Collects 11 All-DAC Honors
Dallas College North Lake's Darion Jones was named the Dallas Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Most Valuable Player.
Blazers teammate Da'Ryan Williams was voted the DAC's Most Improved Player. Jakob Zenon was chosen DAC Newcomer of the Year. North Lake's Josh Mills was picked the DAC Coach of the Year.
Jones and Zenon received First Team All-DAC honors. Williams earned Honorable Mention All-DAC honors, as did Brandon Lawrence, Ring Deng, Ryan Pondant and DeKyre Fuller.
A 6-foot-3, 185-pound sophomore guard from Austin, Texas, Jones led the Blazers in scoring (14.2), rebounds (6.8) and steals (1.7), while averaging 2.9 assists per game. He shot 49.1 percent from the field. He is coming off a career-high 25 points in the 90-63 win over 11th-ranked Dallas College Richland in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III South Central District championship. Jones' 25 points in that game matched his career best, which came in a 76-66 win over NJCAA Division I New Mexico Military Institute earlier in the season. He reached double figures in 22 games, including the past four. He scored 20 or more points in seven games. He was named the NJCAA Division III National Player of the Week in late November.
A 6-5, 210-pound sophomore forward from Austin, Williams averaged 12.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists, while shooting 51.9 percent. He had a career-best 20 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks, three assists and two steals in an 81-70 win at NJCAA DI Redlands Community College. Williams scored in double figures in 26 games, including 21 in a row.
A 6-4, 190-pound freshman swingman from Fort Worth, Zenon averaged 12.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and one steal per game, while shooting 46.1 percent from the floor, 40.9 percent from three-point range and 81.4 percent from the free throw line. He had a season-high 24 points in two games, and scored 20 or more in eight games. Zenon reached double figures in 20 games. He averaged 18.1 points per game in conference play, while shooting 49.2 percent from the 3-point arc in league contests.
A 6-1, 180-pound sophomore guard from Arlington, Texas, Lawrence averaged 11.1 points, a team-best four assists and 1.7 steals and 3.2 rebounds. He had a career-high 30 points and eight assists, and had seven rebounds, two steals and a block, shooting 9 of 18 from the field in a 91-83 double overtime win at Dallas College Brookhaven. Lawrence scored in double figures in 15 games, and reached 20 or more in three.
A 6-6, 180-pound freshman forward from Grand Prairie, Texas, Deng averaged 6.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists, while shooting 50 percent from the floor and 75.8 percent at the free throw stripe. He had a season-high 17 points at Redlands, going 6 of 9 from the field and 4 of 5 at the free throw line, and had seven boards, four assists and two blocks. He scored in double figures in six games.
A 6-8, 220-pound sophomore forward/center from Longview, Texas, Pondant averaged 7.9 points and 5.6 rebounds, and shot 56 percent from the field and 72.8 percent from the stripe. He scored a season-high 19 points in a 101-61 win over Concordia University's Junior Varsity, shooting 5 of 8 from the field and 9 of 9 at the free throw line. Pondant had 14 points and a season-best 13 boards in a 77-69 win over No. 8 Dallas College Eastfield. He reached double figures in 11 games.
A 6-7, 215-pound forward from Kennedale, Texas, Fuller averaged nine points and 2.8 rebounds, while shooting 50.5 percent from the floor, 46.8 percent from 3-point range and 75 percent from the line. He scored a season-high 15 points in two games, and reached double figures in 12. Fuller scored 13 points, grabbed a season-best 11 rebounds, and had a block and a steal in a 73-51 win over NJCAA Division II Arkansas-Cossatot.
Mills, in his first year as head coach, led the Blazers to a 25-6 overall, 10-0 DAC record. His team captured the regular season conference title, along with the NJCAA DIII South Central District and Region V championships. North Lake went 16-0 at home, and will take a 21-game winning streak into next week's NJCAA DIII Championship Tournament in Herkimer, New York. Mills was named the HoopDirt.com Junior College Coach of the Week on Feb. 14.
Ranked No. 2 in the country, North Lake will play the winner of Butler County Community College (Pa.)-Rochester Community & Technical College (Minn.) in the national quarterfinals 5 p.m. Thursday.
All-Dallas Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Team
Most Valuable Player – Darion Jones, Soph, G, Dallas College North Lake
Freshman of the Year – Dwayne Reliford, Fr, F, Dallas College Eastfield
Defensive Player of the Year – Jackson Lino, Fr, F, Dallas College Brookhaven
Newcomer of the Year – Jakob Zenon, Fr, G/F, Dallas College North Lake
Most Improved Player – Da'Ryan Williams, Soph, F, Dallas College North Lake
Sixth Man of the Year – Ryan Nurenberg, Soph, G, Dallas College Brookhaven
Coach of the Year – Josh Mills, Dallas College North Lake
FIRST TEAM ALL-DAC
Darion Jones, Soph, G, Dallas College North Lake
Ed Trahan, Soph, F, Dallas College Richland
Dwayne Reliford, Fr, F, Dallas College Eastfield
Jakob Zenon, Fr, G/F, Dallas College North Lake
Ryan Nurenberg, Soph, G, Dallas College Brookhaven
Farai Mandhlazi, Fr, G/F, Dallas College Mountain View
SECOND TEAM ALL-DAC
Curtis Trey Moffett, Fr, G, Dallas College Brookhaven
Taven Washington, Fr, G, Dallas College Richland
Antonio Freeman, Fr, G, Dallas College Cedar Valley
Tylan Harris, Fr, G, Dallas College Eastfield
Isaiah Brass, Soph, G, Dallas College Cedar Valley
Terry Moss III, Soph, G, Dallas College Mountain View
HONORABLE MENTION ALL-DAC
Da'Ryan Williams, Soph, F, Dallas College North Lake
Brandon Lawrence, Soph, G, Dallas College North Lake
Ring Deng, Fr, F, Dallas College North Lake
Amari Williams, Fr, G, Dallas College Eastfield
Torian Harris, Soph, F, Dallas College Eastfield
Devin Teague, Fr, G, Dallas College Richland
Malik Conley, Fr, G/F, Dallas College Cedar Valley
Ryan Pondant, Soph, F/C, Dallas College North Lake
Aaron Ovalle, Fr, G, Dallas College Brookhaven
Jackson Lino, Fr, F, Dallas College Brookhaven
Alonnie Carter, Soph, G, Dallas College Cedar Valley
Jude Donovan, Fr, G/F, Dallas College Cedar Valley
Isaiah Sobers, Soph, G, Dallas College Cedar Valley
Keelan Russell, Fr, G, Dallas College Cedar Valley
DQuarius Burton, Fr, G, Dallas College Eastfield
Tyler Jones, Soph, G, Dallas College Eastfield
Justice Marmara, Soph, G/F, Dallas College Mountain View
DeKyre Fuller, Soph, F, Dallas College North Lake
Coco Rose, Fr, G, Dallas College Richland