BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Senior guard AJ Slaughter and junior forward Steffphon Pettigrew have been named to the 2009-10 Sun Belt Men's Basketball All-Conference teams, the conference office announced Tuesday afternoon following a vote of the league's 13 head coaches along with one media representative per school.
Slaughter was named to the five-member First-Team while Pettigrew received Second-Team status. In total, 15 players comprise the three teams with Louisiana-Lafayette's Tyren Johnson taking home Player of the Year honors. Arkansas State had both the Coach of the Year in John Brady and the Freshman of the Year with Brandon Reed. Brett Royster of Florida Atlantic was tabbed as the Defensive Player of the Year.
WKU now has 36 All-Conference honorees including at least one in 25 of its 28 years of Sun Belt affiliation. Slaughter marks the 10th-straight year the Toppers have had a First-Team selection.
Slaughter, who earned Sun Belt Second-Team All-Conference acclaim last season, was tabbed the Preseason Player of the Year, and he lived up to that billing, leading the Hilltoppers and ranking second in league in scoring at 17.7 ppg. The Shelbyville, Ky. native sees more time on the court than any other player in the conference, averaging 36.5 mpg, while also ranking in the top four in the Sun Belt in assists, steals, free three percentage, and three-pointers made per game.
With a dozen 20-point performances this season, he has 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 season, Slaughter contributed 20.8 ppg, 6.3 apg, and had a three-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio.
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. Posting double figures in scoring in 29 of 31 games this season, including a current streak of 18-consecutive games with such, Slaughter has jetted up the WKU career scoring list from 45th to 12th with 1,535 points.
Capping off a four-year career that includes a 95-39 record, two regular season Sun Belt Championships, a shot at three-straight SBC Tournament titles as well as three consecutive NCAA Tournament berths, 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 received his first postseason All-Conference recognition after ranking second on the team and ninth in the Sun Belt Conference in scoring at 14.9 ppg. Second on the team in minutes played at 32.5 per game, the junior from Elizabethtown, Ky. is shooting 49.2 percent from the field and grabbing 6.0 rpg, 11th-best in the league.
Recording double-digit scoring performances in 26 of 31 games this season, the 2007 Kentucky Mr. Basketball has led WKU in scoring 12 times, just three 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. Currently with 1,032 points, he sits 39th all-time on the Hill.
Named the Sun Belt Player of the Week on January 18, Pettigrew's five 20-point games this season have come against the Hilltoppers' toughest competition: 25 against Troy, 23 versus North Texas, 23 at Louisville, 22 against Middle Tennessee, and 21 versus Florida Atlantic.
North Texas' four selections led all schools while WKU, Troy, and Florida Atlantic each had two. In total, nine institutions were represented with at least one player on the First, Second, or Third Team.
WKU will now compete in the 2010 Sun Belt Conference Tournament held at the Summitt Arena in Hot Springs, Ark. The Hilltoppers begin the quest for their third-straight tournament championship on Saturday, March 6 when fourth-seeded WKU hosts 13th-seeded New Orleans at 6:45 PM.
2009-10 Sun Belt Conference
Men's Basketball All-Conference
FIRST-TEAM
Nate Rohnert, Denver (Sr., G/F)
Tyren Johnson, Louisiana-Lafayette (Sr., F)
Desmond Yates, Middle Tennessee (Sr., F)
Brandon Hazzard, Troy (Sr., G)
AJ Slaughter, WKU (Sr., G)
SECOND-TEAM
Brandon Reed, Arkansas State (Fr., G)
George Odufuwa, North Texas (Jr., F)
Tim Williams, South Alabama (Jr., G)
Michael Vogler, Troy (Sr., G)
Steffphon Pettigrew, WKU (Jr., F)
THIRD-TEAM
Greg Gantt, Florida Atlantic (Fr., G)
Ray Taylor, Florida Atlantic (Fr., G)
Tristan Thompson, North Texas (Jr., G)
Eric Tramiel, North Texas (Sr., F)
Josh White, North Texas (Jr., G)
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Tyren Johnson, Louisiana-Lafayette (Sr., F)
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Brett Royster, Florida Atlantic (Jr., F)
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Brandon Reed, Arkansas State (Fr., G)
COACH OF THE YEAR: John Brady, Arkansas State
