NKU's Drew McDonald makes Horizon All-Freshman team

 

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky’s Drew McDonald, a former star at Newport Central Catholic High School. was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team on Tuesday following a vote by coaches, media and sports information directors.

 

A native of nearby Cold Spring, Kentucky, McDonald averaged 10.4 points and team-best 6.3 rebounds per game throughout the entire season. Those numbers ballooned to 12.8 points and 7.7 boards (tops among all Horizon League freshman) in League games.

 

The forward also notched five double-doubles this year, all coming in Horizon League play. McDonald’s first double-double came in NKU’s first-ever Horizon League game at Green Bay, where he tallied 12 points and 13 rebounds en route to earning his first of two freshman of the week accolades from the league office.

 

McDonald garnered his second freshman of the week honor just two weeks later when he averaged 11 points and four boards in games against Youngstown State and Cleveland State.

 

McDonald was instrumental in helping the Norse surpass the preseason prognostications and earn the No. 8 seed in the 2016 Little Caesar’s Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship, where it will face No. 5 Milwaukee in the opening round.

 

Norse Notes

 

 

•McDonald’s double-doubles came at Green Bay (12 points, 13 rebounds), at Oakland (18 points, 11 rebounds), at Detroit (17 points, 10 rebounds), versus Detroit (13 points, 11 rebounds) and at Cleveland State (20 points, 12 rebounds).

•He scored a career-best 23 points against Oakland on Feb. 1.

 

McDonald reached double-figures in 15 of the last 20 games.

 

The Norse are the No. 8 seed in the upcoming Horizon League tournament. They will play Milwaukee on Saturday in Detroit.

This is awesome news!

 

Congratulations to McDonald :thumb:

Awesome news!! Really happy for Drew. So excited for Coach Brannen as well, he has to be optimistic at the Norse's next few years.

Way to go Drew!

Congrats to Drew! He has really improved as a player. It's not easy to step into a D1 school and excel right away. Can't wait to see Carson Williams alongside him going forward.

Very nice for Drew!

Congratulations Drew.

Congrats to Drew.

Good for Drew! As good as kids in HS are it's sometimes hard to project their game in college. Kids who really commit themselves to S&C make the most progress.

 

As good as Williams is now, I think his game goes to another level once he starts a D-I diet and S&C program.