UM’S JAMAR NAMED PRE-SEASON MID-MAJOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR BY COLLEGE SPORTS MADNESS

College Sports Madness has named the University of Montana’sKareem Jamar as its 2013 - 2014 Preseason All-Mid Major Men’s Basketball “Player of the Year” today (Thursday, Oct. 3).

Jamar, a 6-5 senior guard-forward from Venice, Calif., is one of the most prolific players in Grizzly basketball history. Last season he became the 28^th player in school history to score 1,000 or more career points, and begins his senior season ranked 18^th, with 1,108 points. He has played in 91 career games with 82 starts.

“Kareem has had a heck of a run his first three years,” said eighth-year Head Coach Wayne Tinkle, the Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year the past two seasons. “A lot of our success can be directly attributed to what he brings. He is the consummate, multi-dimensional player.

“I don’t know that there’s many teams out there that have had the success we’ve had (93 wins over the past four seasons) that plays a guy at four different positions,” Tinkle said. “We’ve been pretty darn good, and he’s played point guard, two guard, the three and the four, and never complained. That tells you a lot about his versatility and his willingness to do whatever it takes to win.

“We are excited for what he’s going to do this year, and we expected, or demanded, that his leadership step up on and off the court;” Tinkle said; “and he’s done a nice job of trying to do that for us. It’s no surprise to me, and it’s nice to see that he’s getting much-deserved recognition across the country.”

Last season as a junior Jamar was named the Big Sky Conference’s regular-season and post-season tournament MVP. He was fourth in the league in assists (4.0 pg), eighth in the league in scoring (14.2 ppg) and field goal percentage (49.4%), and 11^th (tie, 5.0 rpg). He was named an honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press. He was also tabbed first team all-conference and second team All-District 6 by the NABC. He was also chosen Montana’s team MVP.

College Sports Madness named Belmont’s Rick Byrd as its “Coach of the Year,” while Murray State guardCameron Payne was chosen as the “Freshman of the Year.”

Joining Jamar on the first team were guards D.J. Irving of Boston College and Wesley Saunders of Harvard; forward Lucas Troutman of Elon; and center/forward Alan Williams of UC Santa Barbara.

Second team selections included guards Kyle Vinales of Central Connecticut State and Billy Baron of Canisius; guard-forward Cameron Ayers of Bucknell; forward Augustine Rubit from South Alabama; and center/forward DeQuan Hicks of Northwestern State.

The third team consisted of guards Saah Nimley of Charleston Southern and Pendarvis Williams of Norfolk State; guard/forward Trey Sumler from Western Carolina; forward Torrey Craig of USC Upstate; and center/forward Chris Udofia of Denver.

Fourth team: guards Malcolm Miller from Southern and Tennessee State’s Patrick Miller; guard/forward Langston Hall of Mercer; forward George Beamon of Manhattan; and center/forward Julian Bond from LIU Brooklyn.

The staff at College Sports Madnesspicked the top men’s basketball players from all of the Mid-Major conferences, and these players are expected to make significant contributions to their teams during this coming season and deserve significant recognition.

See the Big Sky Men’s basketball 2013-2014 preseason all-conference teams onBig Sky Men’s Basketball 2013-2014 Preseason All-Conference Teams.