#TCCBasketball’s Kiair Crouch named PC Newcomer of the Year
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (February 28, 2017) – Tallahassee Community College sophomore guard Kiair Crouch was named Panhandle Conference Men's Basketball Newcomer of the Year on Monday, one of three Eagles to receive individual honors from the league's coaches.
Lawriell Wilson was named Panhandle Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Year and teammate Japonica James was tabbed PC Freshman of the Year.
In all, Tallahassee had seven players – three women and four men – named to the 2017 Coaches’ All-Panhandle Conference teams.
Of the seven selections, five were named First-team All-PC – freshman Jas Hill joined Wilson and James in the women’s vote while Crouch was joined by fellow sophomore David Simmons.
Crouch, who hails from Stone Mountain, Ga., transferred to Tallahassee after playing his freshman season at Lander University. He played in 29 games this season and led the Eagles with 15.4 points per game.
Crouch also averaged 3.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.7 steals and shot 42.4 percent from the floor, 38.9 percent on three-pointers and 70.0 percent from the free throw line.
Wilson is just the second Tallahassee player to claim the conference’s top women’s honor, joining Shamar Harris, who accomplished the feat in 2008. The Kenner, La., native is in the midst of a record-setting career for the Eagles while earning first-team all-PC honors for a second straight year.
She leads Region 8 and is the fifth-leading scorer nationally at 21.1 points per game and averaged 23.8 points per game in league play.
In her next to last regular season game on February 18, she became just the second female player in school history to eclipse 1,000 career points and will enter the postseason just 15 points shy of becoming Tallahassee’s all-time leading scorer.
Wilson, who has played in all 28 games, also averaged 7.0 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.1 steals while shooting 43.3 percent from the floor, 34.7 percent on three-pointers and 82.6 percent from the free throw line.
Wilson, Hill and James formed one of the most formidable trios in the country while leading Tallahassee to a 22-6 record and No. 9 national ranking.
Hill and James, high school teammates at Leflore High School in Mobile, Ala., averaged 19.3 and 17.9 points, respectively, to rank second and fourth, respectively, in the PC.
James was slightly stronger in league player, however, averaging 20.2 points and shooting 57.7 percent from the floor to take top freshman honors. Hill averaged 15.0 points per game in PC games.
Simmons, who is from Henderson, Ky., earned a second straight first-team all-PC nod. He has played in 27 games and averaged 13.3 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists while shooting 44.8 percent from the floor.
Two other Eagles – men’s players Leon Freeman-Daniels and Jacob Winston – were named Second-team All-PC.
Freeman-Daniels, a freshman from Atlantic City, N.J., averaged 6.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 30 games. He was even better during PC play averaging 8.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists.
Winston, a freshman from Montgomery, Ala., has played in all 30 games and averaged 10.2 points and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 36.3 percent on three-pointers and 79.3 percent from the free throw line.
The recipient of the Eddie Barnes Panhandle Conference Coach of the Year Award is Northwest Florida State’s Steve DeMeo. The men’s coach of the year award is named in honor of former Tallahassee head coach Eddie Barnes, who retired from coaching at the end of the 2014-15 season.
Barnes, who coached at Tallahassee from 2001-15, won 274 games and NJCAA District/FCSAA State Championships in 2006 and 2011.