SHAKUR JUISTON NAMED NJCAA PLAYER OF THE YEAR

HCC Sports Information
Thursday, April 20, 2017

For the second time in program history, a Hutchinson Community College men's basketball player has been named National Player of the Year.

On Thursday, Blue Dragon sophomore forward Shakur Juiston was named the NJCAA/Spalding Men's Division I Player of the Year. Juiston led the Blue Dragons to the 2017 NJCAA national championship, the third in program history.

Juiston a 6-foot-7 forward from Newark., New Jersey, is the second Blue Dragon ever to be named the NJCAA National Player of the Year. Juiston joins Kadeem Allen, who was the 2014 NJCAA National Player of the Year.

In March, Juiston was named the 2017 Jayhawk Conference and Region VI Player of the Year. Last week, he was named first-team NJCAA All-American.

Juiston averaged a double-double for the season at 17.3 points and 12.1 rebounds per game in his sophomore season. Juiston shot 60.9 percent from the field and averaged 3.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.8 blocked shots per game.

He had four double-doubles in the NJCAA Tournament. He had tournament highs of 88 points, 56 rebounds and averaged 5.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game over four games.

For the season, Juiston had 26 double-doubles and one triple-double.

Juiston broke the Blue Dragons' single-game rebound record of 20 against Dodge City and then went on to break the program's career rebounding record of 741. Juiston ranked sixth in the NJCAA in total rebounds and was first in the nation in defensive rebounding average.

Juiston's 446 total rebounds this past season were third most in team history. His 12.1 boards per game average tied Ben Davis (1994) for sixth on the season list. His 67 blocks were seventh most in team season history.

Juistin ranked fourth in Region VI in scoring, third in field-goal percentage, led the league in rebounding and tied for the conference lead in blocked shots.