Cajuns forward JaKeenan Gant receives pair of All-America honors

BOSTON – Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns men’s basketball player JaKeenan Gant picked up a pair of All-America honors on Tuesday when he was named to the Lefty Driesell and Riley Wallace Awards, in a release by CollegeInsider.com.

Gant, a transfer from Missouri, finished his first season with the Ragin’ Cajuns second on the team in scoring (13.7) and rebounds (5.8) while leading the Sun Belt Conference in blocked shots (74) and field goal percentage (.553).

The Springfield, Ga., native earned third-team All-Sun Belt Conference honors during the 2017-18 season for Louisiana while being named the league’s Newcomer and Defensive Player of the Year. The 6-foot-8 forward recorded six 20-point games during the season for the Ragin’ Cajuns, with a career-high 24 coming against Troy. He posted back-to-back double-doubles in games against New Orleans and Southeastern Louisiana.

Gant finished the season as one of four Division I players nationally to average 13.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks while shooting 55 percent from the floor.

The Lefty Driesell Award is for the legendary coach who won 786 games in 41 years at Davidson, Maryland, James Madison and Georgia State. He ranks eighth on the NCAA career Division I coaches victories list and his teams at each stop were known for playing tenacious defense. From 1969-1986 at Maryland, his teams posted a 348-159 record, won two Atlantic Coast Conference regular season titles and one tournament title.

The Riley Wallace Award is named after former Hawaii head coach and is presented annually to the top transfer in Division I college basketball. During his coaching career at Hawaii, Wallace welcomed many transfers into the program, which helped him to become the winningest coach in Hawaii history.

West Virginia’s Jevon Carter was named the recipient of the Lefty Driesell Award with Buffalo’s Wes Clark, a transfer from Missouri, named as the Riley Wallace Award winner.

2018 LEFTY DRIESELL DEFENSIVE ALL-AMERICA TEAM
Mo Bamba, Texas
Bruce Brown, Miami
Jevon Carter, West Virginia
Chris Chiozza, Florida
Paris Collins, Jackson State
JaKeenan Gant, Louisiana
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kentucky
T.J. Haws, BYU
Jaren Jackson Jr. Michigan State
Ryan Kemrite, Liberty
Sagaba Konate, West Virginia
Dakota Mathias, Purdue
K.J. Maura, Sr., UMBC
Jalan McCloud, ETSU
Shawn Occeus, Northeastern
Namdi Okonkwo, Pacific
Grant Riller, Charleston
D’Marcus Simonds, Georgia State
Ben Richardson, Loyola Chicago
Stanford Robinson, Rhode Island
Chris Silva, South Carolina
Jonathan Stark, Murray State
Khyri Thomas, Creighton
P.J. Thompson, Purdue
Matisse Thybulle, Washington
Marques Townes, Loyola Chicago
Keaton Wallace, UTSA
Glynn Watson Jr., Nebraska
Isaiah Wilkins, Virginia
Robert Williams, Texas A&M

2018 RILEY WALLACE ALL-AMERICA TEAM
Cane Broome, Cincinnati
Elijah Brown, Oregon
Wes Clark, Buffalo
Dwight Coleby, Western Kentucky
Raasean Davis, North Carolina Central
Al Freeman, N.C. State
JaKeenan Gant, Louisiana
Jalen Hudson, Florida
Tramaine Isabell, Drexel
Scottie James, Liberty
Cameron Johnson, North Carolina
Egor Koulechov, Florida
Caleb Martin, Nevada
Martaveous McKnight, Arkansas Pine Bluff
DeSean Murray, Auburn
Malik Newman, Kansas
Dylan Osetowski, Texas
Roddy Peters, Nicholls State
Isaiah Pineiro, San Diego
Vasa Pusica, Northeastern
Kassius Robertson, Missouri
Andre Spight, Northern Colorado
Kendall Stephens, Nevada
Jared Stutzman, Idaho State
Darius Thompson, Western Kentucky