The University of Toledo men’s basketball quartet of senior Jaelan Sanford, senior Nate Navigato, sophomore Marreon Jackson and freshman AJ Edu were each recognized Monday with the announcement of the Mid-American Conference all-league squads.
The All-MAC teams were determined from voting by the league’s 12 head coaches.
Sanford earned a spot on the first team, marking the sixth time in the last seven seasons a Rocket has been tabbed as one of the league’s top five players.
Jackson and Navigato were honorable-mention all-conference selections, while Edu earned a spot on the All-MAC Freshman Team. T
he foursome has helped Toledo post a 25-6 overall record, a victory total that ranks second in program history.
A 6-foot-4, 200-pound guard who was a second-team All-MAC honoree last year, Sanford leads the Rockets in scoring with 15.4 points per game and ranks second with 3.1 assists per game, a 1.7 assist/turnover ratio, 69 free throws made, and 83 free throws attempted. He also ranks second in the MAC with an 83.1 free-throw percentage and leads the Rockets with 24 double-digit scoring contests. Sanford has climbed up to sixth place on Toledo’s all-time scoring list with 1,753 points and needs just five points to move into fifth place.
Navigato, a 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward, is being honored for the first time by the league’s coaches. He ranks second in team scoring with 12.5 points per game and sits atop the MAC with a 45.8 three-point field goal percentage that ranks ninth nationally. Navigato is leading the Rockets for a second straight year with a 3.0 assist/turnover ratio and ranks third on the squad with 2.7 assists per game. Navigato holds UT’s record for three-point field goals in a season (94) and career (303), and is three treys away from tying the conference record for career three-pointers held by Central Michigan’s Josh Kozinski.
A 6-0, 175-pound guard who was a MAC All-Freshman Team member last year, Jackson leads Toledo with 4.3 assists per game and 1.5 steals per game to rank fourth and seventh in the MAC, respectively. He ranks second on the team in scoring in league play with 13.5 points per game and ranked third in conference action with a 40.0 three-point field-goal percentage.
Edu is the fifth Rocket to earn a spot on the MAC All-Freshman Team in Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk’s tenure, joining Julius Brown (2011-12), Nathan Boothe (2012-13), Jonathan Williams (2013-14) and Marreon Jackson (2017-18). The 6-foot-10, 215-pound forward paced the conference with 1.9 blocks per game in league play and ranked second in overall contests with 1.8 blocks per game. Edu played in all 31 games this season and was a key producer off the bench with 3.8 points per game and 4.0 rebounds per game in 13.9 minutes per game. He ranks third on UT’s season blocked shot list with 55 and swatted away four or more shots on five occasions, including a season-high six vs. Western Michigan (March 5).
Toledo will return to action Thursday, March 14, at 6:30 p.m. in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena when it begins post-season play in the 2019 MAC Tournament quarterfinals against either No. 7 seed Northern Illinois or No. 10 seed Ohio. The Rockets are the No. 2 seed in the tourney and have received a bye in the event in four of the last six years.
MAC Tournament tickets can be purchased online at the Toledo Rockets’ website, by calling 419.530.GOLD (4653), or by visiting the ticket office in Savage Arena. Only tickets purchased through the University will be in the Rocket section of Quicken Loans Arena.
