LHU MBB: Shoats selected to NABC All-District First Team

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Today (Monday, March 25), the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced its all-district teams and Lock Haven men’s basketball standout point guard was selected to the First Team.

The NCAA DII Atlantic Region is comprised of programs from the PSAC (18 teams), the Mountain East Conference (12 teams) and the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (12 teams), along with independents Bluefield State and Salem.

Shoats and the rest of the First Team honorees are now eligible for All-America consideration.

The awards continue to roll in for Shoats, who was previously named to the All-Atlantic Region and All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East First Team, while also being named the PSAC East Player of the Year.

Shoats, who earned the program’s first PSAC East Player of the Year since Wali Hepburn in 2023-14, had an historic season on both end of the court and was named PSAC East Athlete of the Week five times this season, twice on offense and three times on defense.

As the only player in the PSAC to rank in the top-10 in both assists and scoring, Shoats ranks second in the conference in points (20.4) and fourth in assists (4.6). The sophomore also ranks third in the conference in steals per game (2.1) and leads the entire PSAC in minutes per game (37.6).

Shoats’ 579 points this season rank fifth all-time in program history for a single season. The point guard scored 20-or-more points in 16 games, including a career-best 28 in a victory over Mansfield.

As a team, the Bald Eagles finished with a 21-8 overall record and a program-best 18-4 record in the Eastern Conference. Lock Haven was named PSAC East regular season champions and reached the quarterfinal in the PSAC Championship Tournament.

Atlantic

First Team

Eddie Colbert III – Charleston

KJ McClurg – Cal (PA)

Josh Omojafo – Gannon

Ethan Porterfield – IUP

Justice Shoats – Lock Haven

Second Team

Jaylen Alston – Winston-Salem State

Matt Dade – Millersville

Marcus Johnson – Wheeling

Lakeem McAliley – East Stroudsburg

Anthony Pittman – West Virginia State

Coach of the Year: Dwaine Osborne – Charleston