April 11, 2011

Three-Peat: Men’s Basketball’s Cameron Jones Named MVP

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Senior Cameron Jones was named the recipient of the Joe Rolle Most Valuable Player for the third consecutive season, Head Coach Mike Adras announced Sunday at the team awards banquet. Jones is the first player in program history to win the award three times.

The award is named for Joe Rolle, who was a two-time student body president who earned the prestigious Gold Axe Award and President's Award upon graduating in 1941. He also excelled at basketball over his four years at NAU, which led to the university naming the men's and women's basketball teams' most valuable player awards in his honor in 1950 and his inclusion in the inaugural NAU Athletic Hall of Fame induction in 1981.

Jones averaged 20.0 points per game as a senior, breaking the school's single-season and career scoring marks during the season. He was a unanimous selection to the All-Big Sky first-team and selected to the Lou Henson All-America team presented by CollegeInsider.com. He was also a NABC All-District 6 second team selection.

Sophomore Gabe Rogers received the Coaches Award. The Houston, Texas, native averaged 13.1 points per game with 2.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists. He finished the season ranked second in the Big Sky and fifth in Division I in three-point field goal percentage at 47.1, the 10th-best single-season three-point percentage in school history, and was second in the Big Sky in three-point field goals made per game at 2.5 (65th in Division I). Overall, he made 82 three-pointers on the season, tied for six-best single-season total on the NAU single-season charts.

Sophomore Stallon Saldivar received the Most Improved Award. The Salt Lake, Utah, native reset his career single-game best in every statistical category in the first eight games of the season and recorded his top 10 career single-game assist totals, top six scoring totals and top six rebounding totals. Saldivar averaged 5.4 assists per game to rank 31st in the nation in per game average and seventh overall among sophomores after dishing out just 2.0 assists as a freshman. He also improved his scoring, rebounding and steals averages per game during his second season.

Senior Shane Johannsen was the co-recipient of the Mike Nesbitt Award with classmate DeAngelo Jones. The Mike Nesbitt Award is named for NAU Hall of Famer Mike Nesbitt and is given to the player or players who deal with or play through injuries over the course of the season.

Johannsen averaged 9.4 points per game (30th in Big Sky) and 6.5 rebounds (8th in Big Sky) while leading Division I and the Big Sky in field goal percentage at 72.7. He suffered hand injury on Feb. 16 but did not miss any games. The Phoenix Christian High School product was second in the Big Sky and ranked 26th in the NCAA in blocks at 2.3 per game, setting a school record with 76 blocks on the season.

Jones, a senior from Seattle, saw action in 28 games with four starts. He averaged 3.4 points and 1.6 rebounds. He suffered a shoulder injury during Big Sky Conference play but only missed four games despite re-injuring the shoulder again. He scored in 25 of 28 games played and dad three steals in the second half in comeback against Montana State in Big Sky Tournament quarterfinal and scored four points in Big Sky Tournament game against Northern Colorado.

2010-11 NAU Men's Basketball Awards

Mike Nesbitt Award – Shane Johannsen/DeAngelo Jones

Most Improved Award – Stallon Saldivar

Coaches Award – Gabe Rogers

Joe Rolle MVP Award – Cameron Jones