ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Little Rock sophomore guard
Markquis Nowell has been named to the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) All-District VII team, announced today by the organization. District VII comprises Division I schools within the states of Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana.
Nowell becomes the third Trojan to earn USBWA All-District recognition, joining Stan Blackmon in 2000-01 and Solomon Bozeman in 2010-11. Nowell is one of two Sun Belt Conference players to earn All-District honors, joined by Texas State's Nijal Pearson, and is one of three players from the Natural State among those recognized, along with Arkansas' Mason Jones and Isaiah Joe.
A first team All-Sun Belt selection, Nowell ranks among the Sun Belt's top-three in six statistical categories, leading the league in free throw percentage (87.9%) and three pointers per game (2.8). He is second in assists (4.9) and third in scoring (17.2 ppg), steals (2.2) and three point percentage (39.1%). Nowell sits among the top-50 nationally in five of those statistical categories as well.
The Harlem, New York native was a three-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week, scoring over 20 points on 12 different occasions with a pair of 19 point games. Nowell eclipsed the 30-point mark twice and played all 40 minutes for the Trojans in 10 games this season. He has 481 points on the season, looking to become the 15th Little Rock player to surpass 500 points in a season, while his 759 career points leads the Trojan active roster.
Nowell was a key component of Little Rock staging one of the best comebacks in the nation in 2019-20, winning 21 games (compared to 10 in 2018-19) and going 15-5 in Sun Belt play to capture the league's regular season title by a full two games.
The number one seed in the Sun Belt tournament, Little Rock is awaiting an opponent for its semifinal game at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. The Trojans will play the winner of the Georgia Southern/Georgia State quarterfinal game (being played Wednesday in Atlanta) with the semifinal tipping at 11:30 a.m. Saturday morning.
2020 USBWA District VII Team
Mason Jones – Arkansas
Desmond Bane – TCU
Skylar Mays – LSU
Jared Butler – Baylor
Jhivvan Jackson – UT San Antonio
Isaiah Joe – Arkansas
Javion Hamlet – North Texas
Markquis Nowell – Little Rock
Nijal Pearson – Texas State
Sha'markus Kennedy – McNeese
Player of the Year: Jared Butler – Baylor
Coach of the Year: Scott Drew – Baylor
#LittleRocksTeam
