Collins, Morris, Naylor named all-conference by league media

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (March 5, 2014) – The Panhandle Conference media released its 2014 all-conference basketball teams on Wednesday. Fifteen members of the conference’s media selected first- and second-team all-conference squads, as well as an all-freshman team, Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year for both men and women.

Three members of Tallahassee Community College's basketball teams earned all-conference recognition, led by sophomore guard Addesha Collins, who was a women's first-team selection. Earvin Morris and Cameron Naylor were named to the men's second-team while teammate Dirk Williams was voted to the men's all-freshmen team.

Collins, a sophomore from Anniston, Ala., led the Eagles and finished third in the conference in scoring at 13.9 points per game. In 29 games, she also led the team in assists (3.2 apg) and steals (2.2 spg) – all while averaging better than 30 minutes per game (31.5 min/game). She shot 42.1 percent from the floor and 74.4 percent from the free throw line. In 12 PC games, Collins averaged 12.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists. 

Morris, a sophomore from Memphis, Tenn., played in 22 games and led the Eagles in scoring (14.4 ppg), steals (1.1 spg), field goal percentage (50.5 percent) and three-point field goal percentage (46.9 percent). He also averaged 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists. In ten PC games, he averaged a team-best 14.3 points. 

Naylor, a sophomore from Jacksonville, Fla., averaged 12.8 points and 5.3 rebounds, both second-best on the team, in 24 games. He shot 48.6 percent from the floor, another category that landed him number two on the Eagles' roster. In 12 PC games, he averaged 13.1 points. 

Williams, a native of Homewood, Ala., was third on the team in scoring at 11.9 points per game and averaged 3.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 25 games while shooting a team-high 83.3 percent from the free throw line. He averaged 10.6 points in 12 PC games. 

Chipola College’s Sam Cassell, Jr., already named Panhandle Conference Player of the Year by league coaches, was the media’s pick for men’s Player of the Year honors. He was also a unanimous selection for men’s Freshman of the Year.

In the women’s voting, Chipola’s Evelyn Akhator was selected as Player of the Year while Northwest Florida State College’s Simone Westbrook was named Freshman of the Year.

Coach of the Year honors went to Pensacola State College’s Pete Pena, who guided the Pirates to a share of the PC men’s championship, and Chipola’s Greg Franklin, whose team won the PC women’s title with a perfect 12-0 record. Franklin was a unanimous pick for women’s Coach of the Year.

2014 Panhandle Conference Media All-PC Men’s Basketball Teams

Player of the Year: Sam Cassell, Jr., Chipola
Freshman of the Year: Sam Cassell, Jr., Chipola
Coach of the Year: Pete Pena, Pensacola State

2014 Panhandle Conference Media All-PC Women’s Basketball Team

First-team (points)

• Evelyn Akhator, Fr., Chipola (130)
• Simone Westbrook, Fr., Northwest Florida State (126)
• Jessica Morton, So., Gulf Coast State (100)
• Carla Batchelor, So., Northwest Florida State (63)
• Addesha Collins, So., Tallahassee (57)

Player of the Year: Evelyn Akhator, Chipola
Freshman of the Year: Simone Westbrook, Northwest Florida State
Coach of the Year: Greg Franklin, Chipola

All-PC Voting Procedures

All-PC voting is determined by a point system. Each voter’s top player receives 10 points, the second-best player, 9 points, etc. The top five vote getters (including ties), based on points, are named First-team All-PC. The next five (including ties) are named Second-team All-PC and all remaining players who receive at least ten points in voting are honorable mention. The top vote getter, based on points, is named Player of the Year.

All-Freshman voting is determined in similar fashion. Each voter’s top player receives 5 points, the second-best player, 4 points, etc. The top five vote getters (including ties) are named to the All-Freshman Team. The top vote getter, based on points, is named Freshman of the Year.The coach who receives the most votes is named Coach of the Year.

Rob Chaney, Director of Athletics at Tallahassee Community College, coordinated the media’s all-conference vote.

All-PC Voting Panel

Lyles Adair, WKGC-FM/Gulf Coast Sports Network; James Baxley, WKGC-FM/Gulf Coast Sports Network; Drew Bowman, Athletic Program Assistant, Northwest Florida State College; Tom Brassell, Raider Radio; Bill Brownell, Panhandle Sports Broadcasting; Michael Gilbert, Pensacola State College basketball statistician; Becky Horn, Pensacola State College Sports Information; Dustin Kent, Jackson County Floridan; Bruce Larkins, Pensacola State College Sports Information; Brenden Martin, Tallahassee Community College Sports Information; Royce Reagan, Chipola College Television; Ray Ross, Raider Radio; Jason Shoot, Panama City News Herald; Bill Vilona, Pensacola News Journal; Brandon Walker,Northwest Florida Daily News.