Comer voted to A-Sun All Conference team, Jones and Terrell also honored

Following a regular season in which it tied the program’s Division-I record for most wins with 21, three FGCU men’s basketball players were honored heading into this week’s Atlantic Sun Conference Championship, highlighted by senior Brett Comer landing on the A-Sun First Team. Redshirt senior Jamail Jones was named to the A-Sun Second Team, while Christian Terrell garnered a spot on the A-Sun All-Freshman Team.

Comer (Winter Park, Fla./Winter Park HS) worked his way onto the A-Sun First Team for the second-straight year, just the 25th player in the 36-year history of the league to be recognized on the First Team two times. It also marked the third-consecutive season that FGCU has had at least one representative on the First Team, second to only USC Upstate’s run of four years in a row.

Jones (Atlanta, Ga./Montverde Academy) came on strong at the end of the 2013-14 A-Sun docket, and carried it over into the 2014-15 league campaign as the former Marquette transfer picked up his first A-Sun postseason recognition. It marked the fifth-straight year FGCU has had at least one player on the Second Team, by far the longest stretch of any league member.

Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) became the first FGCU representative on the All-Freshman Team since Comer and fellow senior backcourt mate Bernard Thompson (Conyers, Ga./Rockdale County HS) both made the team in 2011-12.

“I’m pleased and happy for Brett, Jamail and Christian,” said FGCU head coach Joe Dooley. “It’s a testament to all three of them for the work they’ve put in all year, and it’s really a great honor for Brett to be named to the First Team back-to-back years.”

Comer averaged 12.4 points for the year, but increased that average to a team-best 14.3 in A-Sun games – the eighth-best in the league. The point guard also led the A-Sun in assists by a wide margin as his 211 total (7 per game) is 87 more than anyone else in the league. Comer is responsible for each of the top six assist games by an individual in the A-Sun this year.

Seven of Comer’s 17 career 20-point games have come this year, with five of them against A-Sun opponents. Comer is the NCAA active career assists leader with 820, 13 helpers shy of entering the top 25 all-time. The Dunk City maestro was named A-Sun Player of the Week on Feb. 9 after just missing the program’s first triple double with 21 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds at Stetson. In addition to being named to the First Team last year and All-Freshman Team three years ago, Comer has also been a two-time A-Sun All-Tournament Team selection and Tournament MVP in 2013.

Jones averaged 12.1 points for the year, but like Comer increased his output in league games as he finished with a 12.6 average in A-Sun contests – second-best on the FGCU roster. The 6-6 combo guard led the Eagles in rebounding with 5.5 for the season as he posted three double-doubles on the campaign.

Following consecutive 20-point games at NKU (25) and at Lipscomb (24), Jones was named A-Sun Player of the Week as the 25-point performance against the Norse set a career high. Like Comer, Jones was named to the A-Sun Preseason All-Conference Team.

Terrell was Dooley’s most utilized freshman on a team, and league, dominated by upperclassmen. The southpaw totaled 110 points on the year and appeared in all 14 A-Sun games. He was one of eight FGCU players to average double-figure minutes in league contests (11.6), and against NKU on Jan. 31 posted his best conference scoring output with 10.

His best scoring performance of the year came on Dec. 3 opposite Florida Tech when he led the team with 22 points on 8-13 from the floor and 5-8 from 3-point range in only 25 minutes of action. Terrell led FGCU in 3-point percentage as he knocked down 19 of his 48 attempts for 39.6 percent.

USC Upstate’s Ty Greene was named the A-Sun Player of the Year as voted on by the league’s eight head coaches. North Florida’s Demarcus Daniels was tabbed as the Defensive Player of the Year, Northern Kentucky’s Tayler Persons was the Freshman of the Year, Jacksonville’s Kori Babineaux was the Newcomer of the Year and UNF’s Matthew Driscoll was the Coach of the Year after guiding the Ospreys (20-11, 12-2 A-Sun) to the regular-season title and the tournament’s No. 1 seed.

FGCU wrapped up the regular season with a 21-9 record overall and 11-3 mark in A-Sun action, but has dropped its last two games after a 10-game winning streak. The Eagles are the No. 2 seed in the A-Sun Championship, which gets underway on Tuesday, Mar. 3, at 7 p.m. against No. 7 Jacksonville (10-21, 4-10 A-Sun) at Alico Arena.

General-admission tickets the quarterfinal game are still available and can be purchased for $15 by logging on to FGCUAthletics.com/Tickets, visiting the Alico Arena Ticket Office or by calling 239-590-7145. Season ticket holders should have already received email correspondence with instructions as to how to secure their seats in advance. With a win on Tuesday, FGCU will also host a semifinal game on Thursday, Mar. 5, at 7 p.m.

Player of the Year: Ty Greene, USC Upstate
Defensive Player of the Year: Demarcus Daniels, North Florida
Freshmen of the Year: Tayler Persons, Northern Kentucky
Newcomer of the Year: Kori Babineaux, Jacksonville
*Coach of the Year: Matthew Driscoll, North Florida*

A-Sun All-Conference First Team
Pos., Name, School
*G, Ty Greene, USC Upstate
*F/G, Beau Beech, North Florida
PG, Brett Comer, FGCU
G, Josh Williams, Lipscomb
G, Dallas Moore, North Florida
* – Denotes unanimous selection to team

A-Sun All-Conference Second Team
Pos., Name, School
G, Jamail Jones, FGCU
G, Kori Babineaux, Jacksonville
F, Jalen Billups, Northern Kentucky
G, Tayler Persons, Northern Kentucky
F, Kentwan Smith, Stetson

A-Sun All-Freshman Team
Pos., Name, School
*G, Tayler Persons, Northern Kentucky
*G, Divine Myles, Stetson
*G, Grant Lozoya, Stetson
G, Christian Terrell, FGCU
F, Antwon Clayton, Jacksonville
* – Denotes unanimous selection to All-Freshman Team