March 9, 2011
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - San Diego State senior D.J. Gay and sophomore Kawhi Leonard were named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District 17 First Team, the organization announced Wednesday.
The NABC recognizes the nation's best men's collegiate basketball student-athletes, which are selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC. The 245 student-athletes, from 24 districts, are now eligible for the State Farm Coaches' Division I All-America teams.
A native of Sun Valley, Calif., Gay finished the regular season averaging 11.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists. The guard owns the 12th-best assist-to-turnover ratio in America (2.81) and went 177 consecutive minutes without a turnover earlier this season. Earlier this week, Gay, for the first time, was named to the all-Mountain West Conference first-team.
Leonard, meanwhile, was named to the all-District 17 first team for the second straight season after averaging 15.2 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists. Hailing from Riverside, Calif., Leonard has 21 double-doubles in 2010-11, which ranks fourth, and his rebounding average is the seventh best in the nation. Like Gay, Leonard was a first-team all-MWC choice and all-defensive team selection.
This marks the sixth straight season in which San Diego State has had a player voted to the all-district squad and Leonard is the first two-time first-teamer since Brandon Heath was selected in both 2006 and 2007.