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NCAA DII Atlantic Regional preview

EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University sophomore guard Whis Grant has been named to the Daktronics All-Atlantic Region men's basketball first team, the Warriors' first All-Region selection in 19 years, it was announced Thursday.

Grant (Plymouth Meeting/Plymouth Whitemarsh), who led the Warriors to this weekend's NCAA Division II Tournament Atlantic Regional and the PSAC East regular season championship, is the only underclassman among the five players on the Atlantic Region first team. He is one of just three sophomores among the 40 first team selections from across the country.

The PSAC East Athlete of the Year, Grant leads the PSAC's top scoring offense with 17.3 points per game and is fifth in the PSAC with 1.9 steals per game going into the regional. The Warriors (22-6) have a first-round match-up with IUP on Saturday at 12 p.m. at West Liberty, W.V. as they make their third trip to the NCAA Tournament in four years.

Grant is ESU's first All-Region pick since 1994, when center Eric White was named to the ECAC All-Region first team and NABC All-Region second team. He was also named the Lehigh Valley Small College Basketball Organization's Player of the Year, ESU's first recipient since Rich Baker in 2004.

The Daktronics team is nominated and selected by members of CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors Association). The NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches) will also release an All-Region team later this month.

Grant is the only PSAC player named to the first team. He is joined by Alex Falk (West Liberty), the Atlantic Region and WVIAC Player of the Year, and three players from the CIAA - Trevin Parks (Johnson C. Smith), CIAA Player of the Year Angelo Sharpless (Elizabeth City State) and Byron Westmoreland (Bowie State). West Liberty is the region's top seed and hosts Bowie State, the CIAA champion, on Saturday night.

The second team includes two players from the PSAC in PSAC West Player of the Year Luis Leao (Mercyhurst) and Devin Taylor (Slippery Rock). The final five are from the WVIAC - Cedric Harris (West Liberty), Chad Moore (Shepherd), Nick Novak (Pitt-Johnstown), Isaac Thornton (Fairmont State) and Kelsey Williams (WV Wesleyan). Harris, Taylor and Thornton will all compete in the NCAA Tournament this weekend.

Grant and Harris, a junior, are the only two non-seniors on the Atlantic Region team.

Grant ranks seventh in the PSAC in scoring, second in three-point percentage (39.9), fifth in three-pointers per game (2.4) and fifth in steals per game (1.9) entering the NCAA Tournament.

He has produced 10 games of 20+ points, including six during the Warriors' school record-tying 14-game winning streak from December 19 to February 13. He averaged 19.9 points during the streak, including 22.9 in a nine-game stretch. He scored a season-high 30 and hit two free throws with 13 seconds left in the season opener, an 80-79 win over Alderson-Broaddus at Shepherd on November 10.

Grant had a run of 28 points at Slippery Rock, 29 at Edinboro and 25 at Mansfield in January to become the first ESU player in 11 seasons under head coach Jeff Wilson with three straight 25-point games. He added consecutive games of 22 at Bloomsburg, 23 at West Chester and 25 vs. Cheyney later in the winning streak.

He averaged 19.9 points over 10 games against the top four teams from the PSAC's Eastern and Western Divisions.

He is 65-for-163 from the three-point line and 109-for-135 (80.7 percent) from the foul line this season. He has scored 468 points on just 350 shots from the field. He is also second on the Warriors with 2.9 assists per game and averages 3.2 rebounds.

Grant led ESU with 13.9 points per game as a freshman on last year's PSAC championship team and enters the regional with 899 career points (in 58 games).

He has been part of championship teams in the last four years, winning a PIAA "AAAA" title at Plymouth Whitemarsh in 2010, a national prep championship at St. Thomas More (Conn.) in 2011, the PSAC tournament in 2012 and PSAC East regular season championship in 2013. His teams are 102-27 in that time.

Grant is the ninth ESU player to be named to an All-Region team since 1972, and just the second sophomore, joining three-time All-American Jonathan Roberts (1988-90). Roberts scored 921 of his school-record 2,218 points through two seasons.

Other All-Region selections (combining NABC and ECAC teams) are Eric White (1994), Lonnie White (1993), Keith Fisher (1991), Roberts (1988-90), Earle Greer (1983-84), Don Bones (1980-81), Kevin Morrissey (1973) and John Lehman (1972).


Daktronics Atlantic Region Men's Basketball Teams

1st Team
Alex Falk, West Liberty, Sr.
Whis Grant, East Stroudsburg, So.
Trevin Parks, Johnson C. Smith, Sr.
Angelo Sharpless, Elizabeth City State, Sr.
Byron Westmoreland, Bowie State, Sr.

2nd Team
Cedric Harris, West Liberty, Jr.
Luis Leao, Mercyhurst, Sr.
Chad Moore, Shepherd, Sr.
Nick Novak, Pitt-Johnstown, Sr.
Devin Taylor, Slippery Rock, Sr.
Isaac Thornton, Fairmont State, Sr.
Kelsey Williams, WV Wesleyan, Sr.