Herd's Blackshear Earns Second Team All-MAC

3/12/2003

Ronald Blackshear

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A record 15 first-time selections dot the 20-man roster of this year's all-Mid-American Conference team announced today by the league office. Voting was conducted among the league's 13 head coaches.

Marshall junior guard Ronald Blackshear was among the 15 first-timers on the squad. The Camilla, Ga., native was named to the All-MAC second team after averaging 20.7 points per game this year, good fir fifth in the league.

Blackshear ranks as the league's top free throw shooter at 88.8 percent, which also places him among the top free throw line performers in the nation. Blackshear also led the league in three-point field goals made and attempted.

In a striking reminder of the league's balance that produced a record 11 of 13 teams with at least eight league wins, all 13 MAC institutions were represented on the all-conference list.

MAC Champion Central Michigan led the way with three honorees - first-team member Chris Kaman (also the MAC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year), second-team selection Mike Manciel and honorable mention member J.R. Wallace.

Kaman, a junior from Wyoming, Mich. (Tri-unity Christian), led the Chippewas to a 21-win season and a 14-4 MAC record while capturing the school's second league title in the last three seasons. Kaman led the league in field goal percentage at 63.4% and in blocked shots with 84, and was second in scoring (22.5 ppg), rebounds (12.2 rpg) and double-doubles (21). He also ranks third nationally in rebounds, fifth in field goal percentage and eighth in blocked shots.

Kaman was joined on the first-team by Ball State's Chris Williams, Kent State's Antonio Gates, Northern Illinois' Marcus Smallwood and Ohio's Brandon Hunter.

Gates paced Kent State's third consecutive East Division title drive with a balanced game that had him listed among league leaders in several major categories. Gates was fourth in scoring (20.8 ppg), sixth in assists per game (4.1), seventh in rebounds per game (7.8), 11th in field goal percentage (48.6%), 12th in steals per game (1.44) and 13th in assist-turnover ratio (1.44). Nationally, Gates ranks 30th in scoring.

Ohio's Hunter leads the nation in rebounds with 12.8 per game and could become just the second player in MAC history to pace the nation in that category (joining Charlie Slack, Marshall, 25.6 rpg in 1956). Hunter has been a dominating force in the league all year and is first among his conference peers in double-doubles (22), third in scoring (21.5 ppg), seventh in field goal percentage (51.9%), and fifth in blocked shots (1.25 per game). He has also contributed 71 assists and 21 steals to the team and his tip-in at the buzzer Monday night won the Bobcats' first-round game at Akron, 79-77. Hunter owns the top rebounding effort in the nation this season with 26 versus Akron and is also tied for second with 24 boards against St. Bonaventure.

Smallwood led the Huskies to a MAC school-record 11 wins and was the top offensive rebounder in the league, grabbing 4.1 per game. Smallwood averaged 13.5 ppg and his 10.2 rebounds a game ranked third in the MAC. He also finished fourth in the league in field goal percentage at 55.3% and third in blocked shots at 1.34 per contest.

Ball State's Williams led the league in scoring at 24.5 ppg and is ranked eighth nationally in scoring. His 48 points at Akron was the best in the nation for most of the season and is now fourth best and his 44 points at Central Michigan is tied for ninth nationally. Williams' free throw accuracy rate of 85.9% is third best in the league and he produced 35 steals and 65 assists.

Except for Manciel, who was an honorable mention all-MAC selection in 1999, the entire second-team are all initial team members. Forward Ryan Prillman of Eastern Michigan is joined by guards Derrick Tarver of Akron, Blackshear and Juby Johnson of Miami.

The honorable mention team is made up of eight guards and two post players - Anthony Kann of Western Michigan and Kevin Netter of Bowling Green. Kann's teammate Robby Collum, as well as Toledo's Nick Moore, is a repeat selection from last year's honorable mention squad. Also on the squad are ball handlers Johnny Hollingsworth of Akron, Turner Battle of Buffalo, J.R. Wallace of Central Michigan, Eric Haut of Kent State, P.J. Smith of Northern Illinois and Keith Triplett of Toledo.

2003 All-MAC First Team

Player	School	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Cl.	Hometown/High School
Chris Williams	Ball State	G	6-3	180	Sr.	Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick
Chris Kaman	Central Michigan	C	7-0	255	Jr.	Wyoming,Mich./Tri-unity Christian
Antonio Gates&	Kent State	F	6-5	240	Sr.	Detroit, Mich./Central
Marcus Smallwood	Northern Illinois	F	6-6	211	Jr.	Elgin, Ill./Elgin
Brandon Hunter@	Ohio	F/C	6-7	260	Sr.	Cincinnati,Ohio/Withrow

2003 All-MAC Second Team

Derrick Tarver	Akron	G	6-4	210	Jr.	Akron, Ohio/Buchtel
Mike Manciel#	Central Michigan	F	6-5	235	Sr.	Detroit, Mich./Country Day
Ryan Prillman	Eastern Michigan	F	6-9	240	Sr.	New Orlenas, La./McDonogh
Ronald Blackshear	Marshall	G	6-5	210	Jr.	Camilla, Ga./Mitchell Baker
Juby Johnson	Miami	G	6-5	203	Jr.	Warrensville Heights, Ohio/W. Heights

2003 All-MAC Honorable Mention Team

Johnny Hollingsworth	Akron	G	6-1	175	Jr.	Cincinnati, Ohio/George Junior Republic
Kevin Netter	Bowling Green	C	6-10	209	Jr.	Richmond Dale, Ohio/Southeastern
Turner Battle	Buffalo	G	6-3	175	So.	Kernersville, N.C./East Forsyth
J.R. Wallace	Central Michigan	G	6-0	170	Sr.	Muskegon, Mich./Peeths-Puffer
Eric Haut	Kent State	G	6-0	195	Jr.	Lansing, Mich./Walter French Academy
P.J. Smith	Northern Illinois G	6-4	197	Jr.	Maywood, Ill./Proviso East
Nick Moore%	Toledo	G	6-1	188	Sr.	Ypsilanti,Mich./Redford Catholic Central
Keith Triplett	Toledo	G	6-3	180	Jr.	Toledo, Ohio/Bowsher
Robby Collum%	Western Michigan	G	6-1	205	Sr.	Racine, Wisc./Luthern
Anthony Kann	Western Michigan	F/C	6-7	230	Jr.	Davison, Mich./Davison

@ first team all-MAC in 2001 and 2002 & second team all-MAC in 2002 # honorable mention all-MAC in 1999 % honorable mention all-MAC in 2002

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