PORTLAND, Ore. – The Great Northwest Athletic Conference announced their 2021-22 GNAC Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference team this morning. After being selected to finish fourth in the GNAC Preseason Team Poll, the Nanooks had two selected to the preseason team.

Returning senior and 2019-20 GNAC Player of the Year, Co-Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, Shadeed Shabazz was selected to the All-Conference team. He was around every play on the court during the 2019-20 season, helping lead the Nanooks back to the postseason for the first time since the 2015-16 season. In his first year in Fairbanks, Shabazz, a 6-1 guard from Seattle, Wash., averaged 26.6 points per game with 106 assists while setting GNAC single-season records in total points (798) and steals (114). He led Division II with 3.8 steals per game. Thanks to his play, Shabazz earned D2CCA honors as a First Team All-West Region and Third Team All-American selection.

Joining Shabazz on the GNAC Preseason All-Conference Team is senior forward Coleman Sparling. Sparling, a 6-7 forward from Ellensburg, Wash., will round out his college career back in his original conference. After joining his father, current Alaska head coach Greg Sparling, at Central Washington in 2016-17 and 17-18, Sparling transferred to the College of Southern Idaho before spending his last season at the University of Texas at Arlington. The father/son-duo will come full circle as Coleman joins Fairbanks for the 2021-22 season. He averaged 2.0 points per game while suiting up 27 times for the Mavericks of UTA.

Divant'e Moffitt of Seattle Pacific was selected as the GNAC Preseason Player of the Year and joined Shabazz as one of the eight unanimous selections to the 15-member Preseason All-Conference Team.

The Nanooks will host a Blue/Gold Scrimmage on Saturday, Oct. 23 at the Alaska Airlines Gymnasium in the Patty Center, beginning at 7:00 p.m. Admission will be free, all in attendance are required by UAF mandate, to wear a mask through the game's entirety.

2021-22 Season Schedule
2021-22 Tickets

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Twitter, @AlaskaMensBasketball on Instagram, or like the Alaska Nanooks athletics page on Facebook.