The Bulldogs have recently won several awards for their achievements in the Northwest Athletic Conference basketball season. Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams won awards from the NWAC for their athleticism and performance in their games.
The men’s team, led by coach Jeremy Eggers, had players who received titles from the NWAC and were placed into the first and second teams of the northern league. Other players made the All-Academic team. Three sophomores and a freshman received awards and were recognized for their skill on the court.
The women’s team, led by coach Mel Stubblefield, received similar awards. Freshman Mikayla Jones was named Freshman of the Year and the Defensive Player of the Year. Jones was also selected to the first team All-Stars. Sophomore Eboney Jackson was named to the second team for the north region.
Coach Eggers was also voted coach of the year for the north region. Before coaching the team at BC, he was an assistant coach at Washington State University, and also coached high school basketball prior to that. Eggers played basketball at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, and entered a basketball internship in his senior year that gave him his first experience coaching. After graduating, he began coaching high school basketball and has 22 years of coaching experience in total.
“We had a great year as a team. It was proven with all the awards,” said Eggers.
The BC men’s basketball team tied for first place in the NWAC North region’s ranking this season.
Sophomore players Jalen Ward, Anthony McLaughlin and Dominique Jordan were voted to the NWAC’s all-sophomore team. Ward was also voted first team on the Northern league, and Jordan was voted league MVP. Freshman Dom Holub made second team on the league, and second in the all-NWAC tournament team. Holub was also recognized as the Defensive Player of the Year.
There were eight teams and approximately 80 players that competed in this past season’s NWAC tournament. First team on league recognizes the top six players in the tournament, and second team on league recognizes the top 11.
“To have three guys in the top 11 out of 80 was a very nice recognition for our team this year,” said Eggers.
This year is special to Eggers, because so many players were recognized. Eggers said that the recent first-place tie for victory represents the seventh division title won during his 12 years as coach. During the NWAC championships on Tuesday, March 10, BC’s men’s basketball team placed fifth.
Players Anthony McLaughlin and Jalen Ward made the NWAC All-Academic team, which recognizes players with good athleticism and academic standing. Laughlin and Ward will both receive degrees by the end of the winter quarter and plan to go on to play basketball at universities.
Academic achievement is important to college basketball players, and Eggers promotes such success in his team.
“Like we explain to our student athletes here, the better grades they have, the more options they have,” Eggers said.
A low GPA limits options for a player looking to transfer to a university, which reduces their likelihood of continuing to play college basketball. The coach says that players are reminded to work hard in the classroom as well as on the court.
Eggers will be co-coaching the All-Sophomore team in Oregon on the weekends of March 14-25. Players Dominique Jordan, Jalen Ward and Anthony McLaughlin will be competing as part of the All-Sophomore team.