Zenon Named National Player of Year
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Dallas College North Lake men's basketball's Jakob Zenon was named the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Player of the Year.
A 6-foot-4 sophomore guard from Fort Worth, Zenon scored 18.8 points per game, while grabbing 6.6 rebounds and coming up with a steal per contest in becoming a First Team All-American. He was named to the NJCAA Division III All-Tournament Team as the Blazers won the national championship. Zenon shot 48 percent, including 41.5 percent from long distance, and was an 87 percent free throw shooter.
"His ability to stretch the defense, he has really deep range," Blazers second-year head coach Josh Mills said. "He can really get hot. But that's not a surprise for how hard he worked on his own. He's just constantly working on improving his shooting ability. He's not afraid to get to the basket and get fouled. Nearly a 90 percent free throw shooter. He just found ways to help us always on the court."
Zenon, who was also named the Dallas Athletic Conference Most Valuable Player, scored 22 points, going 9 of 14 from the field, in the national championship win at Herkimer College. He scored in double figures in 29 of the 33 games, with a career-high 36 points on 10 of 17 three-point shooting. Zenon finished the season, scoring in double figures in the last 13 games. He scored over 30 points twice, including the season-opening win at Three Rivers Community College.
"Just a lot of dedication, obviously, hard work," Zenon said. "Just coming up here every day, and just doing what I can."
Zenon hit five or more triples in eight games. He 8-for-12 from the 3-point line in the season opener. He hit six of seven triples in a win at Dallas College Brookhaven Feb. 3.
He improved his scoring and shooting ability from his freshman to sophomore seasons at North Lake, where he never lost a home game in his Blazers' career. Zenon bumped his scoring average by six points from his first to second year in Blazer Blue and Green. His field goal shooting improved from 44.3 percent to 47.9, while his three-point shooting improved from 39.7 to 41.5 and his free throw shooting from 82.4 to 86.8. He also grabbed 2.4 more rebounds as a sophomore.
"He was dedicated over the summer, stayed here with us, took summer school classes to gain ground on his degree," Mills said. "Also, he was working in the weight room, becoming a little more athletic, a little more physical. I think guys make the biggest jumps between their freshman and sophomore years, I think, because they really need to see how fast and how physical the game is to know how hard they're going to have to work. Jakob did that, of course."