Scots' Everett named NCAC POY, Billings top defender
Nick Everett of The College of Wooster, a 6-8, 250-pound forward, was named the North Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year.
The College of Wooster men’s basketball team made North Coast Athletic Conference history by becoming the first school to sweep the league’s Player of the Year and Top Defensive Player honors. Senior forward Nick Everett was voted by the conference’s nine head coaches as the NCAC Player of the Year, junior guard Jamir Billings captured the Top Defensive Player award for the second time and junior guard Ashton Price debuted on the All-NCAC team as a first-team selection.
Everett, Wooster’s 11th NCAC Player of the Year, was a matchup nightmare for nearly every opponent this season. The 6-8, 250-pound forward ranked second on the team in scoring at 13.5 points per game. Everett made 72.8% (134-of-184) of his field goals to break Matt Schlingman’s 19-year-old NCAC and school records for single-season field-goal percentage.
The senior, who will return next season under the COVID waiver, made a program-record 24 consecutive field goals from Jan. 17 until Feb. 3, coming up two consecutive makes shy of the all-time NCAA Division III record. This is Everett’s second all-conference honor, as he was a third-team recipient last year.
Billings, the first NCAC player to earn two Top Defensive Player awards, blew out the rest of the conference when it came to steals. Billings tied his single-season record with 84 steals, 34 more than the next-highest total within the NCAC. The junior ranks within the top five nationally in steals and steals per game.
The three-time All-NCAC selection was a second-team honoree this season. Billings led the NCAC with 5.9 assists per game and 164 assists, two shy of the program’s single-season record, and he added 10 points per game.
Price, a transfer from Baldwin Wallace University, was Wooster’s leading scorer at 15.7 points per game. He led the NCAC with a 50% field-goal percentage (145-of-290) among players with at least five makes per game.
Wooster went 18-10 this year, with the program extending its run of 18-win seasons to 35 straight. This is the 20th consecutive year at least three Scots were named All-NCAC.
Kevin Smith is director of athletic communication at The College of Wooster.