March 8, 2010
Official Big West All-Conference Release
Big West Tournament Bracket
Big West Tournament Page
IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Davis men's basketball team figured prominently in the Big West Conference's postseason awards, announced Monday morning by the conference office. Joe Harden repeated as an All-Big West Second Team selection and was joined on that team by Dominic Calegari. Julian Welch was named Big West Freshman of the Year, and fellow Aggie Ryan Sypkens was also part of the All-Freshman Team. Additionally, Harden was named the Big West Best Hustle Player. All awards are voted on by the head coaches.
Calegari finished the regular season leading UC Davis in scoring with 16.7 ppg. He scored 20 or more points 11 times and reached a career-high 28 points in three separate games. He was also the Aggie leader in three-pointers and blocks.
Harden has put together another strong season for the Aggies with 14.1 ppg. and 7.1 rpg. The junior was second on the team in steals and finished third in assists. Harden is fifth in the conference in rebounding, fourth in steals and 10th in scoring. He's the first Aggie to receive one of the Big West's All-Specialty Awards.
Welch is fourth on the Aggies with 7.3 ppg. and made 25 three-pointers. He finished the regular season on Saturday with 18 points in the overtime victory at Cal State Fullerton. He scored nine of those 18 in the overtime period. In all, he scored 10 or more points eight times. Welch is the second Aggie in the past three years to receive the top Big West freshman honor. Mark Payne was also named Freshman of the Year in 2008.
Sypkens, a high school teammate of Welch's at Franklin High School in Elk Grove, is one of four Aggies to appear in every game this season. He's fifth on the team with 5.3 ppg. and tied for second with 33 three-pointers.
UC Davis is the No. 4 seed at this week's Big West Tournament. The Aggies will begin play Thursday night against the highest remaining seed after Wednesday's games. Their opponent could be either Cal State Fullerton, Cal Poly or UC Irvine. The game will be the second of the evening session with the first game beginning at 6 p.m. at the Anaheim Convention Center.
2009-10 Big West Men's Basketball All-Conference Team
First Team
Gerard Anderson (Cal State Fullerton)
Kyle Austin (UC Riverside)
Joe Ford (Pacific)
Orlando Johnson (UC Santa Barbara)
Lorenzo Keeler (Cal Poly)
T.J. Robinson (Long Beach State)
Second Team
Dominic Calegari (UC Davis)
Joe Harden (UC Davis)
James Nunnally (UC Santa Barbara)
Casper Ware (Long Beach State)
Eric Wise (UC Irvine)
All-Freshman Team
Allen Huddleston (Pacific)
Lateef McMullan (UC Riverside)
Kyle Odister (Cal Poly)
Ryan Sypkens (UC Davis)
Julian Welch (UC Davis)
Freshman of the Year
Julian Welch (UC Davis)
Best Hustle Award
Joe Harden (UC Davis)
