Five men’s basketball players honored by MAC

March 11, 2014 | Athletics, News
By Steve Easton



Junior guard Julius “Juice” Brown, senior guard Rian Pearson, junior guard Justin Drummond and junior forward J.D. Weatherspoon were each recognized by the Mid-American Conference as the all-league squads were announced.

Junior guard Julius “Juice” Brown has been named to the Mid-American Conference's first team.

Junior guard Julius “Juice” Brown has been named to the Mid-American Conference’s first team.

Brown was named to the first team, Pearson to the second team, Drummond to the third team, and Weatherspoon was an honorable-mention selection.

In addition, freshman guard Jonathan Williams was named to the MAC’s All-Freshman Team to mark the third straight season a Rocket has been included on that squad.

Brown ranks sixth in the MAC with a team-high 14.8 points per game and leads the conference with 6.3 asists per game and a 2.1 assist/turnover ratio. He has scored in double digits in a career-high 11 straight games, including 17 of 18 conference contests. Brown, who ranks third in school history with 541 assists, leads the Rockets with seven 20-point scoring outings, including a season-high 28 points at Ohio (Feb. 1) and 25 points at Akron (Jan. 18).

A second-team honoree as a sophomore and first-team recipient as a junior, Pearson is the first Rocket to receive all-league honors on three occasions since Greg Stempin in the 1998-99, 1999-00 and 2000-01 campaigns. Pearson, who ranks 11th in MAC scoring with 14.3 points per game and eighth with 1.7 steals per game, leads Toledo with a career-high 41.8 three-point field-goal percentage and is tied for the team lead with 25 double-digit scoring games and is second with 5.3 rebounds per game.

Drummond, who also was the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Sixth Player of the Year and All-MAAC Third Team honoree at Loyola (Maryland) in 2011-12, ranks second on the team with 14.5 points per game (ninth in MAC) and 2.7 assists per game and third with 4.9 rebounds per game and 51.7 field-goal percentage. Drummond has registered the second-most free throws (145) and free-throw attempts (192) in the MAC, and also ranks second on the team with seven 20-point games and third with 24 double-digit contests.

Weatherspoon ranks 10th in the MAC with a team-high 6.7 rebounds per game and is tied for fourth in the league with a team-best 55.3 field-goal percentage. Scoring 11.3 points per game, Weatherspoon ranks second on the team with 168 free-throw attempts and third with 99 free throws made. He has scored in double figures in 21 contests, including career-high 20 points and 14 rebounds at Akron (Jan. 18) in 35 minutes.

Willams, who is the 13th Rocket to receive All-Freshman laurels, averaged 7.1 points per game in 17.4 minutes per game off the bench and ranked second on the team with 32 three-point field goals made. An 82.5 percent shooter from the charity stripe, Williams tallied his conference-season best 14 points on four of four three-point shooting at Ohio (Feb. 1).

Toledo will be back in action Friday, March 14, at 9 p.m. in Cleveland when they will face an opponent to be determined in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament.

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