Three more Broncos were honored Tuesday when the West Coast Conference announced its league honors, including sophomore Jared Brownridge, senior Brandon Clark and freshman Matt Hubbard. Earlier in the week, three others were honored by the WCC for their work in the classroom.
"Congratulations to all of the honorees in the West Coast Conference," said Bronco head coach Kerry Keating. "We are happy the league and its coaches recognized six of our players individual efforts this season on and off the court."
Brownridge was named First Team All-WCC after becoming the first true Bronco sophomore and just third in WCC history to score 1,000+ career points. It is the seventh time a Keating-player has been honored on the All-WCC First Team and Brownridge is the only sophomore to be honored this year. Averaging 15.4 ppg, Brownridge scored the game winner vs. Saint Mary's on Saturday. Starting every game of his career (63), he has scored double figures in 15 straight games heading to the WCC Tournament. He is fifth in the league in FT percentage (85.6%) and has made 22 of his 24 FT attempts in the last four games. He is sixth on the season list this year with 82 threes, ranking second in the WCC in threes made and threes made per game (2.7). Brownridge has scored 1,028 career points, good enough for No. 31 on the career list. The WCC Newcomer of the Year last season, Brownridge led the team with 17.2 ppg his freshman year.
"For Jared to be the only sophomore chosen after being the Newcomer of the Year, it shows he handled his success in the right manner," said Keating. "He was put in a tough situation with a lack of front court experience and did a great job. He will be the first to tell you it isn't about individual awards – it's about the team. Obviously the other coaches in this league have great respect for him and that's appreciated. We hope we can continue to build on this and look for him to be the future face of the league as he has become the face of the Mission campus."
Twice named the WCC Player of the Week this year, Clark was named to the All-WCC Honorable Mention team for the second straight year. He is just the sixth player in school history to score 1,500+ points (1,507), 160+ threes (160) and 400+ assists (401). Clark became the 13th player in school history to score 1,500+ career points when he scored 21 points in the win over Saint Mary's Saturday. It was his 11th 20+ game this season and the 24th of his career. He is 20 of 21 from the free throw line in the last six games. On the Bronco career list, he is No. 3 in free throw percentage (84.1), No. 5 in free throws made (391), No. 5 in games played (131) and No. 10 in assists (401). He has played in all 131 games of his career, making 67 starts.
"Brandon has certainly put together a stellar career of production since he stepped foot on campus," said Keating. "To be recognized as one of the better players for the second straight year is quite an accomplishment for a player that wasn't highly recruited. He has always been a worker and is a self-made player. We are excited that he is on track to graduate in the spring with a Business Management degree. He has made himself known through his hard work and we are happy to have had him play for us the last four years."
Hubbard was named to the WCC All-Freshman team. He is the seventh player under Keating to receive the honor. Hubbard has played in all 30 games, starting 24. He recorded his first career double-double in the victory over San Diego Jan. 3 (12 points, 11 boards). He tied a career-high with 15 points at Gonzaga on Jan. 10, hitting five threes. He also scored 15 vs. Pacific on Dec. 29.
"Matt was able to take advantage of an unfortunate situation with a depleted front court and really stepped up to help his team get through a tough time and become a factor in league play," said Keating. "Obviously the challenge is to build on this in the same sense that most of our former WCC All-Freshman team members did. We hope that he can use this as a spring board for improvement as we have had players do in the past."
