Ex-Billikens Getting Some Pub

(St. Louis, MO) – Some former Saint Louis University basketball players are receiving some notoriety.

Billiken Media Relations Reports

Former Saint Louis men’s basketball standouts Kevin Lisch and Jordair Jett, both playing in the National Basketball League (NBL) in Australia, recently earned postseason awards.

Lisch, in his first season with the Illawarra Hawks, won the Andrew Gaze Trophy as the league’s MVP. He was also named the Defensive Player of the Year and earned a spot on the All-NBL first team.

Lisch averaged 20.4 points per game and a league-high 1.84 steals per game this season for the Hawks. He previously claimed an MVP award in the league in 2012 as a member of the Perth Wildcats. He played in Puerto Rico, France and Spain the last several years before returning to Australia this season. Last year, former Billiken Brian Conklin earned MVP honors in the league.

Jett, in his first season as a professional playing for the Townsville Crocodiles, was named the team’s MVP and Defensive Player of the Year for the 2015-16 season. He averaged 15.3 ppg, 3.4 rebounds per game and 3.3 assists per game for the Crocodiles. Jett played his best basketball late in the year, averaging 17.1 ppg the last 14 games.

Jett has signed a contract to play with the Southland Sharks in New Zealand. He reports to the team in early March.

 

United States Basketball Writers Association – National Player of the Week

The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has selected Eastern Washington’s Austin McBroom as its Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for games ending the week of Sunday, Feb. 14. The USBWA’s weekly honor is presented by Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook.

As the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week, McBroom was nominated for the weekly award, which was chosen by a representative of the USBWA board of directors from a list of Division I conference players of the week. This is the seventh season that the USBWA has selected a national player of the week.

McBroom, a 6-0 senior guard from Los Angeles, Calif., scored the most points in back-to-back games in Big Sky Conference play in school history, combining for 72 points in Eastern Washington’s two home wins last week.

He finished with a career-high 37 points – 12th-most in school history – in a 97-80 win over Northern Colorado on Saturday, in which he made 10-of-16 shots from the field, 7-of-12 from 3-point range and 10-of-11 from the free throw line to finish with his second-straight game of 35-plus points. Including last Thursday’s 35-point outing in a 95-85 victory over North Dakota, McBroom made 19-of-33 shots (58 percent), 12-of-20 3-pointers (60 percent) and 22-of-25 free throws (88 percent) for the week.

McBroom is the Big Sky’s leading scorer, averaging 21.3 points per game, good for 14th in Division I.

Editor: McBroom is a former Billiken whom we affectionately nick-named ‘McBomb’. Valley Hoops Insider is glad when any players we were able to cover do well.