Men's Basketball | 3/15/2020 2:24:00 PM

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Shadeed Shabazz, the 2019-20 GNAC Player of the Year, was named to the D2CCA West All-Region First Team. The D2CCA is voted upon by Sports Information Directors in the West Region. This years All-Region Team's had selections from Alaska, California, Idaho, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington. 
 
For Shabazz, this is his first D2CAA selection after his first season with the Nanooks. During his first year in Fairbanks, Shabazz broke the GNAC record for points in a season, scoring 800 points for an average of 26.7 per game. Both of those stats ranked 3^rd in the NCAA DII. Alongside his Player of the Year award, he was named the GNAC Newcomer of the Year, GNAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year and was a unanimous First Team selection. 
 
He reached a season-high of 43 points twice in his 30 games played and broke the GNAC Championships record for points in a game as he scored 42 in the 'Nooks first round victory over Western Oregon. Those two 43 point performances were just two of his 12 games in which he eclipsed the 30-point mark also leading the GNAC in that category. Finally, Shabazz was the top defender in the nation, grabbing an average of 3.83 steals per game on 115 total through the season. He ended the season as the only player in DII to break the century mark in steals. 
 
Head coach Greg Sparling touched base on Shadeed's growth through the season, "I am very happy for Shadeed for receiving this award. It is a great honor and it is very well deserved. I could not be more proud of him [Shabazz]; he got better and better as the year went on."
 
While the season is over, the next round of awards is yet to be named as now voters will have a chance to vote for the All-American Teams in the coming weeks. 
 
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks athletics page on Facebook.