Men's Basketball | 11/30/2016 5:12:00 PM
INDIANAPOLIS – Georgia Southern forward
Shawn O'Connell has been named a nominee for the 2017 Allstate NABC Good Works Team® -- one of the most prestigious off-the-court honors in men's college basketball, Allstate and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced today.
O'Connell has done an extraordinary job of demonstrating leadership both on and off the court through his tireless dedication to giving back to others. During his three years at Georgia Southern, the redshirt sophomore participated in Red Ribbon Week last year and has taken part annually in Relay for Life and Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, has visited the Boys & Girls Club of Statesboro and Samuel J. Green Charter School in New Orleans and read to children at Julia P. Bryant, Sally Zetterower and Langston Hughes schools.
On the court, O'Connell has started all six games this season and is averaging seven points and 4.7 rebounds a game. He collected career highs of 15 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots against Radford last Saturday.
For the fifth year, Allstate and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) are recognizing a select group of men's college basketball student-athletes for their remarkable community service achievements. The Allstate NABC and WBCA Good Works Teams® recognizes players at all levels of college basketball whose charitable involvement and altruistic acts stand out amongst all other student-athletes participating in the sport.
A special voting panel, headlined by former Duke University basketball athlete, two-time NCAA® champion and seven-time NBA All-Star Grant Hill, will select a 10-member team, comprised of five student-athletes from the NCAA Division I level and five student-athletes from Divisions II, III and the NAIA, from the 181 nominees. The final roster of award recipients will be unveiled in February.
Members of the Allstate NABC Good Works Team® will be invited by Allstate, an official corporate partner of the NCAA, to the 2017 NABC Convention and 2017 NCAA Men's Final Four® in Phoenix, where they will participate in a community service project benefitting the city. Allstate is an official corporate partner of the NABC, WBCA and NCAA.
Georgia Southern travels to Savannah State tomorrow night for an 8 p.m. tipoff in Tiger Arena.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. For tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, visit GSEagles.com/tickets.
