Michigan State University Athletics
Dawson, Valentine Named to USBWA All-District Team
3/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State senior Branden Dawson and junior Denzel Valentine were named to the All-District V Team by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), as announced on Tuesday. It marks the second-straight year that two Spartans have been listed on the 10-man team.
Dawson has posted nine double-doubles on the season, including a conference-best eight in Big Ten games. He's averaging 9.3 rebounds, including 9.8 in conference games, becoming the first player 6-foot-6 or shorter to lead the Big Ten in rebounding in conference games since 1988. He also has proven to be a force defensively. Dawson is the only Big Ten player to rank in the Top 10 in the conference in steals (10th), blocks (8th), and defensive rebounds (2nd).
Valentine has proven to be MSU's most versatile player. He's started all 31 games for the Spartans and is second on the team in scoring (14.5 ppg), rebounding (6.1 rpg) and assists (4.2 apg). He is the only Big Ten player to rank in the top 15 in scoring (12th), rebounding (13th) and assists (8th), while also ranking in the Top 15 in 3-point field-goal percentage (7th), 3-point field goals made (2nd), assist-to-turnover ratio (11th), defensive rebounds (7th) and minutes played (10th).
Joining the two Spartans on the All-District team was Wisconsin's Sam Dekker and Frank Kaminsky, Butler's Kellen Dunham, Indiana's Yogi Ferrell, Notre Dame's Jerian Grant, Purdue's A.J. Hammons, Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell and Green Bay's Keifer Sykes.
Dawson and Valentine spilt the media vote at Monday night's banquet for team MVP.
Since 2004, Michigan State has had 15 players listed to the All-District V team. The teams are selected based on voting from the USBWA national membership of 900-plus. There are a total of nine districts. District V includes the states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
