Port Named P-O-Y, Three Other Scot Players Honored By NCAC

Tom Port

James Cooper

» 2006-07 All-NCAC Team

Five members of The College of Wooster men’s basketball program, ranked No. 2 (D3hoops.com) entering the NCAA Div. III Tournament, were honored by the North Coast Athletic Conference on Tuesday, headlined by senior forward Tom Port (Avon Lake, Ohio / Avon Lake) being voted the NCAC Player of the Year and junior shooting guard James Cooper (Springfield, Ohio / Springfield South) getting a spot alongside Port on the All-NCAC First Team.

Sophomore point guard Brandon Johnson (Columbus, Ohio / Groveport Madison) and senior post Tim Vandervaart (North Canton, Ohio / Hoover) were second-team all-conference picks, and also of note, Steve Moore was tabbed with a seventh NCAC Coach-of-the-Year citation in his 20th year at Wooster.

Port becomes the fifth Fighting Scot to be NCAC Player of the Year, joining Cooper who won the award last season as well as Bryan Nelson (2002-03), Ryan Gorman (1998-99), and Brian Buchanan (1992-93), and it also marks his fourth all-conference honor in as many seasons, including first-team status the last three. This year, Port ranks among the top-10 in the NCAC in nine categories, including sixth in scoring (16.7 ppg), tied for eighth in rebounding (6.5 rpg), seventh in field-goal percentage (.563), third in 3-point percentage (.457), fourth in assists (3.3 apg), and seventh in steals (1.3 spg). His scoring, rebounding, field goal and 3-point percentages, and steal averages are all career highs, thanks in part to strong play down the stretch which has seen him produce 17.8 points, 7.2 boards, 3.8 assists, 1.3 blocks, and 1.6 steals over the last 12 games.

Cooper’s second consecutive first-team nod and third all-conference award (second-team as a freshman) has come as the result of another season as the NCAC champions’ top scorer. After leading the league last year at 19.2 points per game, he is right around that same average, currently at 18.4, good for fourth in the conference. Once again, Cooper’s scored consistently, hitting double figures in every game except for one, while doing so in a highly-efficient manner. He is shooting 53.2 percent from the field, 45.0 percent on 3-pointers, and 87.7 percent at the free throw line, which ranks ninth, fourth, and third within the NCAC, respectively. Cooper, who has already set the single-season school record for 3-pointers made (68), also is registering 2.4 assists, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game, the latter being a career best.

Johnson, the 2005-06 NCAC Newcomer of the Year, took over for a four-year starter at the point, and Wooster has not missed a beat. He is the league leader in steals (1.9 spg), and offensively, averages just under four assists (3.7 apg) while adding 10.8 points a game himself to rank third and 19th in the conference, respectively. Also noteworthy, Johnson is second in the NCAC in assist-to-turnover ratio (+2.0 per game) and fourth in free throw percentage (.846).

Vandervaart, despite only playing six conference games due to a couple of injuries, garnered his third All-NCAC recognition (second-team as a junior, honorable mention as a sophomore). Overall, he rates as the league’s 11th-highest scorer (13.4 ppg), second-best rebounder (8.2 rpg), top field-goal shooter (.621), and eighth-leading shot blocker (1.2 bpg). Vandervaart returned from a fractured wrist that cost him exactly one month of action and averaged 8.7 points and 6.3 caroms during last week’s NCAC tourney.

Moore, who has now compiled a career record of 550-171 (.763), has guided the Scots to a mark of 25-3 in 2006-07, which includes conference regular season (15-1) and tournament championships. Wooster is serving as a host site for NCAA Tournament first- and second-round action this Friday and Saturday nights, and will play Transylvania University (19-8) at approximately 8 p.m. Friday.