WEST HAVEN, Conn. – West Liberty University men's basketball standout Bryce Butler received yet another significant award Monday afternoon when he was named to the NCAA Division II Conference Commissioners' Association (D2CCA) Men's Basketball All-America Team for the second consecutive season.
The D2CCA All-America Team is voted on by the sports information directors from the more than 300 NCAA Division II schools and consists of three 5-man units and a 6-man honorable mention list.
The 6-5 junior guard from Latrobe, Pa. is no stranger to repeat awards as he has been named Mountain East Conference and NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Player of the Year in each of the past two seasons. With more than 1,800 career points under his belt, Butler has led Coach Ben Howlett's Hilltoppers to back-to-back MEC regular-season and tournament championships.
With Butler leading the way, West Liberty breezed to its seventh Atlantic Region championship in the past 13 years with Butler's 30-point explosion keying a 70-53 rout of No. 3-ranked Indiana (Pa.) in the regional championship game. That punched WLU's ticket to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight championship tournament in Evansville, Ind. where the No. 2-seeded Hilltoppers (31-3) will tip off against No. 7 seed New Haven, Conn. (23-10) on Tuesday in the 3:30 p.m. (EDT) quarterfinal.
Voted Most Valuable Player of the MEC and Atlantic Region Tournaments, Butler has hit double-figures in every game this season and leads West Liberty in scoring (22.6 ppg.) and rebounding (7.7 rpg.). His 311 field goals rank No. 1 among all NCAA Division II players – just two shy of Seger Bonifant's school record of 313 made shots in the 2014-15 season – and he's No. 2 nationally with 768 total points. The versatile scorer also ranks among the Top 30 rebounders in the nation and stands just outside the Top 50 in assists.
The Hilltopper shooting star was the lone MEC player to attain All-America status in the nationwide balloting and one of only three All-America honorees hailing from the Atlantic Region. Pitt-Johnstown's John Paul Kromka and Shawndale Jones of California (Pa.) were accorded honorable mention status. Black Hills State senior forward Joel Scott was voted Ron Lenz National Player of the Year.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
2022-23 D2CCA Division II
All-America Team
First Team
Name Pos. Cl. School
*Joel Scott F Sr Black Hills State
RJ Sunahara F Jr Nova Southeastern
Kaden Anderson F Sr Point Loma Nazarene
Bryce Butler G Jr West Liberty
Frank Champion F So North Georgia
*-Ron Lenz National Player of the Year
Second Team
Name Pos. Cl. School
Diego Bernard G Sr NW Missouri State
Akuel Kot G Jr Fort Lewis
KJ Jones II G Jr Emmanuel
Zach Laput G Jr Bentley
Will Yoakum G Gr Nova Southeastern
Third Team
Name Pos. Cl. School
Michael Brown G Sr Mount Olive
Kendrick Tchoua C Jr Indianapolis
Jaylen Wells F So Sonoma State
Julius Brown G Sr West Texas A&M
Honorable Mention
Name Pos. Cl. School
Brandon Knapper G Sr CSU-San Bernardino
John Paul Kromka F Sr Pitt-Johnstown
Taylor Currie C Jr Harding
Bradley Dean G So UVa-Wise
Shawndale Jones G Gr Indiana (Pa.)
Robert Osborne F Sr Virginia Union
