IRVINE, Calif. — PacWest Conference Champion Hawai'i Pacific University placed three players and collected two special awards as the 2017 All-PacWest Conference Men's Basketball Team was announced Wednesday by the conference office.
 
Sharks senior Connor Looney was named the Defender of the Year and joined senior Chauncey Orr as first team All-PacWest Conference honorees by the conference's coaches. Senior Jordan Martin was named second team All-PacWest.
 
Head Coach Darren Vorderbruegge was voted the Coach of the Year after leading HPU to the best regular season in school history at 26-2 and the PacWest Championship with an 18-2 conference mark.
 
Looney, a 6-2 guard from Palmer, Alaska/Palmer, earned PacWest Defender of the Year and first team All-PacWest after leading the Sharks to ranking as the top scoring defense in the PacWest and 20th in NCAA Division II by allowing 67.1 points per game. Looney ranked second in the conference and 17th in Division II in steals with 8.3 per game, and fourth in the league and 81st in the nation with an .843 free throw percentage. Looney ranks fifth in the PacWest with 17.0 points per game, seventh with a .485 field goal percentage, eighth with 2.3 3-point field goals per game. He had one double-double on the year with 16 points and 10 assists against Northwest Indian.
 
Orr, a 6-4 swingman from Bowling Green, Ohio/Bowling Green, was named first team All-PacWest Conference after leading the Sharks, ranking fourth in the conference and 72nd nationally with 19.2 points per game, and leading the team, ranking fifth in the PacWest and 125th in the nation with 7.6 rebounds per game. The candidate for the Bevo Francis Award for Small College Player of the Year also ranks fourth in the league and 63rd nationally with a .552 field goal percentage, and seventh in the conference and 120th nationally with 1.6 steals per contest. Orr posted eight double-doubles with eight games of 24-plus points.
 
Martin, a 5-11 guard from Goodyear, Ariz./Millenium, earned second team All-PacWest Conference after averaging 12.3 points for the Sharks and ranking second on the team and 17th in the conference with 5.9 rebounds. Martin leads the team and is eighth with 3.8 assists per game, is tied for 10th in the league with 2.0 3-pointers per contest and is 17th in the PacWest with 1.4 steals per game. He posted three double-doubles on the season, including 21 points and 11 boards to close the regular season at Chaminade on Saturday.
 
Vorderbrugge, in his ninth season at HPU, is the winningest active collegiate coach in the state of Hawai'i with a 126-117 record. He led the Sharks to the best start in school history posting 13 straight wins before suffering a loss. He led the Sharks their best national ranking as an NCAA Division II member when HPU reached No. 3 this season in the NABC Division II Coaches Poll.
 
California Baptist's Michael Smith was named the PacWest Player of the Year, with Chaminade's Austin Pope selected as Newcomer of the Year and Point Loma's Sterling Somers the Freshman of the Year.
 
Joining Looney and Orr on the six-member All-PacWest Conference first team are Cal Baptist's Smith and Kalidou Diouf, Chaminade's Rhondell Goodwin, and Dixie State's Trevor Hill.
 
The top seeded Sharks begin play in the PacWest Conference Tournament in Irvine, Calif., on Friday in the semifinals at 5:15 p.m. HST (7:15 p.m. PST) against the winner of Thursday's quarterfinal between fourth seeded Chaminade and fifth seeded Azusa Pacific. The PacWest Tournament Championship game is Saturday at 2:30 p.m. HST (4:30 p.m. PST).
   
 

2016-17 ALL-PACWEST MEN'S BASKETBALL AWARDS
Player of the Year	Michael Smith	California Baptist
Defender of the Year	Connor Looney	Hawai'i Pacific
Newcomer of the Year	Austin Pope	Chaminade
Freshman of the Year	Sterling Somers	Point Loma
Coach of the Year	Darren Vorderbruegge	Hawai'i Pacific

 

2016-17 ALL-PACWEST MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM
Name	School	Pos.	Yr.	Hometown/Previous School
FIRST TEAM
Kalidou Diouf	California Baptist	C	Jr.	Heidelberg, Germany/Alaska Anchorage
Rohndell Goodwin *	Chaminade	G	Sr.	Oakland, Calif./Merrill West
Trevor Hill *	Dixie State	G	Jr.	Sandy, Utah/Alta
Connor Looney	Hawai'i Pacific	G	Sr.	Palmer, Alaska/Palmer
Chauncey Orr *	Hawai'i Pacific	G/F	Gr.	Bowling Green, Ohio/Bowling Green
Michael Smith *	California Baptist	G	Sr.	South San Francisco, Calif./El Camino
SECOND TEAM
Justin Davis	Concordia	G	Sr.	Tustin, Calif./Foothill
Parker Farris	Hawai'i Hilo	G	Sr.	McKinleyville, Calif./McKinleyville
Petar Kutlesic *	Azusa Pacific	F	Jr.	Uzice, Serbia/Lee Academy
Jordan Martin	Hawai'i Pacific	G	Sr.	Goodyear, Ariz./Millenium
Josh Rodriguez *	Point Loma	G	So.	La Habra, Calif./Sonora
Kiran Shastri *	Chaminade	G	Sr.	Orinda, Calif./Miramonte
THIRD TEAM
Brian Chambers	Concordia	G	So.	Long Beach, Calif./Cypress College
Mike Crawley	Fresno Pacific	F	Jr.	Pittsburg, Calif./Fresno City College
Jeremiah Gray	Dominican	G	Jr.	Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake
Kuany Kuany ***	Chaminade	G	Sr.	Melbourne, Australia/St. Kevin's College
Tanner Nelson	BYU-Hawaii	G	So.	Vancouver, Wash./Union
Austin Pope	Chaminade	G	Jr.	Burbank, Calif./North Idaho College

 
Honorable Mention: Tad Dufelmeier (Concordia), Andre Green (Holy Names), Jordan Heading (California Baptist), Spencer Krannitz (Fresno Pacific), Corey Langerveld (Azusa Pacific), Kyler Nielson (Dixie State), Luka Radovic (Academy of Art), Dante Robinson (Holy Names), Brandon Simister (Dixie State), Sterling Somers (Point Loma)
 
* - Previous All-PacWest selection