LITTLE ROCK – UALR junior Josh Hagins has been voted Third Team All-Sun Belt Conference by the league's head coaches and a selected media panel, the conference office announced on Tuesday. Hagins becomes the 12th All-SBC selection in the tenure of head coach Steve Shields.
Hagins leads UALR in scoring (12.1 ppg), assists (3.0 apg) and steals (1.6 spg), and has seen those numbers improve to 13.8 ppg, 3.1 apg and 1.9 spg in Sun Belt play.
In league games, he ranks in the top 15 of the Sun Belt in scoring (10th-13.8 ppg), field goal percentage (14th-.453), 3-point field goal percentage (13th-.357), free throw percentage (2nd-.864), assists (8th-3.1 apg), steals (3rd-1.9), 3-pointers made (13th-1.5) and assist-to-turnover ratio (6th-1.7).
Hagins has racked up a career-high 48 steals this season. The 6-1 guard has at least one steal in 22 of his last 24 games, and has 13 multi-steal games on the season. Despite playing the majority of his minutes off the ball, he leads the team with 90 assists and has handed out five-plus assists eight times this season.
The Airline HS product has scored in double figures 18 times, including five games of 20-plus. Hagins totaled 22 points, eight rebounds, five assists vs. Troy on Jan. 22, his seventh game of 15-plus points, five-plus assists and five-plus rebounds in his career. At Arkansas State Jan. 29, Hagins scored a career-best 28 points on 10-of-13 shooting while leading UALR to a 75-65 win.
Hagins recently became the 20th player in program history to surpass the 1,000-point mark and ranks fourth in program history in steals (123) and sixth in assists (300). He is eight treys away from matching Derek Fisher for 10th place on the Trojans' made 3-pointers list.
UALR begins play at the Sun Belt Tournament in New Orleans, La., on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. vs. South Alabama. The game will be available to watch on ESPN3.
Below is a complete list of the honorees.
Sun Belt First Team All-Conference
Jelani Hewitt (Georgia Southern, Sr., Guard)
Ryan Harrow (Georgia State, R-Sr., Guard)
R.J. Hunter (Georgia State, Jr., Guard)
Shawn Long (UL Lafayette, Jr., Forward)
Tylor Ongwae (UL Monroe, Sr., Forward)
Second Team All-Conference
Frank Eaves (Appalachian State, Jr., Guard)
Anthony Livingston (Arkansas State, So., Forward)
Ken Williams (South Alabama, So., Guard)
Lonnie McClanahan (UT Arlington, Sr., Guard)
Emani Gant (Texas State, Jr., Forward)
Third Team All-Sun Belt Conference
Josh Hagins (UALR, Jr., Guard)
Trent Wiedeman (Georgia Southern, Sr., Center)
Jay Wright (UL Lafayette, So., Guard)
Majok Deng (UL Monroe, Jr., Forward)
Wesley Person (Troy, Fr., Guard)
Player of the Year
R.J. Hunter (Georgia State, Jr., Guard)
Defensive Player of the Year
Jelani Hewitt (Georgia Southern, Sr., Guard)
Freshman of the Year
Wesley Person (Troy, Fr., Guard)
Joe Gottfried Coach of the Year
Keith Richard (UL Monroe, 5th Season)
