Johnson, Thompson Named All-C-USA Selections; Hollingsworth Picked to All-Freshman Team

IRVING, Texas — For the first time in four seasons, WKU Hilltopper Basketball features two all-league selections with senior Justin Johnson named to the 2017-18 All-Conference USA First Team and senior Darius Thompson named to the Second Team, as announced Monday by the league office.

In addition, WKU newcomer Taveion Hollingsworth was named to the C-USA All-Freshman team.

This is the first time WKU has earned multiple all-conference selections since T.J. Price (first team) and George Fant (second team) in 2014-15.

Johnson is also the first Hilltopper to make the first team since Price.

A second-team selection as a junior last season, Johnson – a 6-foot-7 product of Hazard, Ky. – leads WKU in scoring (14.8 points per game) and rebounding (9.4) for the third straight season. He also leads C-USA in rebounds per game and ranks in the top 35 in the country in total rebounds, rebounds per game and defensive boards per game.

Johnson is shooting 51.8 percent from the field and a team-best 41.8 percent from 3-point range.

He's ranked 15th on WKU's all-time scoring list with 1,580 points, fifth on the all-time rebounding list with 988 boards and in the top 10 in career field-goal percentage, games played, minutes played, free throws attempted and double-doubles.

Johnson is one of only four active players in the nation with at least 1,500 career points and 950 career rebounds.

Thompson, a graduate transfer guard originally from Murfreesboro, Tenn., found his way onto the second team while averaging 14.2 points, 4.8 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game in his lone season on The Hill.

The 6-4 guard has made a team-high 53 3-pointers and grabbed 47 steals, which ranks second on the squad. He's played 1,114 total minutes this season, which ranks seventh in WKU history for a single season.

He's currently ranked ninth in WKU history for most assists in a single season with 146, and he registered just the second triple-double in program history with 33 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists at Marshall on Jan. 6.

Hollingsworth, a 6-2 guard from Lexington, Ky., is the first Hilltopper to receive a freshman-centric honor since Chris Harrison-Docks was named Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year in 2014.

Hollingsworth has started all 31 games for WKU this season, averaging 13.3 points while shooting 49.3 percent from the field, 38.2 percent from 3-point range and 76.6 percent from the free-throw line.

He ranks fourth in WKU history for points in a season by a varsity freshman with 411 – 50 behind Courtney Lee's record of 461 – and his 1,069 minutes played this season are the second-most ever by a Hilltopper freshman.

The third-seeded Hilltoppers (22-9) head this week to the Conference USA Basketball Championship in Frisco, Texas, where they'll face either UAB or Florida Atlantic in the quarterfinals at 9 p.m. CT Thursday.

C-USA will announce its specialty and individual awards later this week.

C-USA All-Conference Teams
First Team
Jon Elmore, Marshall
Nick King, Middle Tennessee
Ahmad Caver, Old Dominion
Chris Cokley, UAB
Justin Johnson, WKU

Second Team
C.J. Burks, Marshall
Giddy Potts, Middle Tennessee
Roosevelt Smart, North Texas
Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA
Darius Thompson, WKU

Third Team
Brian Beard Jr., FIU
Ronald Delph, Florida Atlantic
Jacobi Boykins, Louisiana Tech
Adjin Penava, Marshall
B.J. Stith, Old Dominion

All-Defensive Team
Brian Beard Jr., FIU
Adjin Penava, Marshall
Tyrik Dixon, Middle Tennessee
Ahmad Caver, Old Dominion
William Lee, UAB

All-Freshman Team
Anthony Duruji, LA Tech
Zack Bryant, UAB
Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA
Keaton Wallace, UTSA
Taveion Hollingsworth, WKU

Johnson, Thompson Named All-C-USA Selections; Hollingsworth Picked to All-Freshman Team

Players Mentioned

Taveion Hollingsworth

Justin Johnson

Darius Thompson

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