BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Western Kentucky University senior guard AJ Slaughter and junior forward Steffphon Pettigrew have been named to the 2010 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District team, the organization announced Tuesday morning from its headquarters in Kansas City, Mo. Slaughter was a First-Team selection for the second consecutive season while Pettigrew received a spot on the five-member Second-Team. Only 10 student-athletes were honored from the NABC District 24.
Slaughter and Pettigrew will now go on the ballot for State Farm Division I All-America consideration, to be released Saturday, April 3 from the site of the 2010 NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis, Ind.
This marks the fifth-straight year that WKU has had multiple players named NABC All-District. The two selections bring the Hilltoppers' total to 11 since 2001, and 33 since Bob Lavoy became the Toppers' first honoree in 1950.
With his second-straight First-Team selection, Slaughter joins elite company as Craig McCormick (1981-82) and Courtney Lee (2007-08) are the only other Hilltoppers in history to achieve such a feat.
The Shelbyville, Ky. native, tabbed as the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Player of the Year, lived up to that billing, leading the Hilltoppers and ranking second in the league in scoring at 17.5 ppg on the season. Seeing more time on the court than any other player in the conference, averaging 36.5 mpg, Slaughter was the only player in the league to rank in the top four in the Sun Belt in assists, steals, free three percentage, and three-pointers made per game.
With 13 performances of 20 points or more this season, the Sun Belt All-Conference First-Team selection topped that scoring plateau more than any other player in the league. Averaging 19.2 ppg in conference play, Slaughter was the key catalyst in the Toppers stretch run. As WKU won its final six games of the regular season, Slaughter contributed 20.8 ppg, 6.3 apg, and had a three-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio. He was also named All-Tournament after leading WKU to the Sun Belt Tournament semifinals.
A three-time SBC Player of the Week winner this year, Slaughter eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in the season-opener against Wisconsin-Milwaukee when he scored a then-career-high 30. He posted double figures in scoring in 31 of 34 games this season, jetting up the WKU career scoring list from 45th to 12th with 1,581 points.
Capping off a four-year career that includes a 97-40 record, two regular season Sun Belt Championships, two SBC Tournament titles, and a pair of NCAA Tournaments, Slaughter dropped a career-high 31 points in a 99-69 win over South Alabama on February 18 on "senior night" at E.A. Diddle Arena.
Pettigrew, who received his first postseason Sun Belt All-Conference recognition this year, finished second on the team and eighth in the Sun Belt Conference in scoring at 14.9 ppg. Second on the squad in minutes played at 32.9 per game, the junior from Elizabethtown, Ky. shot 49.0 percent from the field and grabbed 5.9 rpg, 13th-best in the league.
Recording double-digit scoring performances in 29 of 34 games this season, the 2007 Kentucky Mr. Basketball led WKU in scoring 14 times, just two behind Slaughter for the team lead. A Sun Belt Preseason Second-Team All-Conference selection, Pettigrew became the 45th member of the WKU 1,000-point club on February 20 with 17 points in a key overtime road win at Arkansas State. With 1,077 points, he will enter his senior season in 2010-11 at 35th all-time in scoring on the Hill.
Named the Sun Belt Player of the Week on January 18, Pettigrew's five 20-point games this season came against the Hilltoppers' toughest competition: 25 against Troy, 23 versus North Texas, 23 at Louisville, 22 against Middle Tennessee, and 21 versus Florida Atlantic.
2010 NABC Division I
All-District 24 Teams
FIRST-TEAM
Brandon Hazzard, Troy (Sr., G)
Tyren Johnson, Louisiana-Lafayette (Sr., F)
Nate Rohnert, Denver (Sr., G/F)
AJ Slaughter, WKU (Sr., G)
Desmond Yates, Middle Tennessee (Sr., F)
SECOND-TEAM
Greg Gantt, Florida Atlantic (Fr., G)
George Odufuwa, North Texas (Jr., F)
Steffphon Pettigrew, WKU (Jr., F)
Brandon Reed, Arkansas State (Fr., G)
Tim Williams, South Alabama (Jr., G)
