Former Ragin’ Cajuns guard Frank Bartley named NBLC Rookie Of The Year

Baton Rouge native finished eighth in the league in scoring

LAFAYETTE – Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns alum Frank Bartley capped off his inaugural season of professional basketball as he was named on Friday as the Rookie of the Year by the National Basketball League of Canada (NBLC).

Playing for the Saint John Riptide, Bartley averaged 19.3 points per game to finish eighth in the league in scoring, while his 753 points scored were third. He was twice named the league’s Player of the Week.

Bartley started 35 of the Riptide’s 39 games on the season and led the team in scoring in 17 contests. He eclipsed the 20-point mark in 18 games during the season, highlighted by a career-best 30 points in a win over Kitchener Waterloo.

A two-year letterwinner for the Ragin’ Cajuns from 2016-18, Bartley averaged 17.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game for Louisiana in 2017-18, where he was a first-team All-Sun Belt Conference and NABC All-District selection.

The Baton Rouge, La., native was named the recipient of the Pete Maravich Memorial Award, presented to the Major College Player of the Year by the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches and was voted as the Louisiana Sports Writers Association Player of the Year.

Bartley led the Sun Belt Conference in free throw percentage converting on 141 of his 164 attempts (.860), finished seventh in the league in scoring and was 10th in field goal percentage (.433), ninth in steals, third in 3-point field goal percentage (.383), fifth in 3-pointers made per game (2.6) and the team leader in minutes played (30.7/gm).

As a senior, Bartley played in 33 games during the season and scored in double figures in 32 straight contests after opening the season with a season-low three points at Ole Miss (11/10).

He scored 18 points against Arkansas State on March 1, 2018 to become the 47th player in school history to score 1,000 points in his Ragin’ Cajuns career. Bartley became the ninth player in school history to reach the 1,000-point career scoring mark in two seasons, joining a list of players that included – Dwight “Bo” Lamar, Andrew Toney, Shawn Long, Kevin Brooks, Jerry Flake, Roy Ebron, Sydney Grider and Elvin Ivory.

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