Feb. 27, 2007

Complete All-LSC Men's Baksetball Team in PDF Format
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CANYON, Texas - After a hard-fought regular season in which players and coaching staff had to pull together to overcome a difficult schedule and several key injuries, the West Texas A&M men's basketball received some recognition for its efforts on Tuesday as the team was well-represented when the Lone Star Conference announced its 2007 Men's Basketball All-Conference Awards.

Senior guard Damien Lolar highlighted the group as he was named LSC South Division Player of the Year to go along with first team All-LSC South honors. The Arkansas City, Kan., native has been one of the most explosive players in the country this season, leading the conference in scoring with an average of 23.4 points per ball game to go along with an 8.8 rebounds per game clip. Lolar, who also received first team All-LSC South accolades a year ago, has also tallied 10 double-doubles on the season.

For the second consecutive season and fifth time during his WTAMU coaching career, head coach Rick Cooper has been selected as the LSC South Division Coach of the Year after he and his staff guided the team to a 17-9 regular season mark and tied for top spot in the LSC South with a 9-3 league record. In 14 seasons at the helm of the Buff basketball program, Cooper holds the distinction of being the program's all-time winningest coach as he has compiled a 283-131 (.684) overall record to go along with his career mark of 425-179 (.703) on the bench.

Head Coach Rick Cooper was selected LSC South Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season

Also joining Lolar on the list of accolades from the LSC, were Tyler Cooper, Chris Hinz and Kevin "Chip" Green, who each were selected as Honorable Mention All-LSC South performers after enjoying standout campaigns.

Cooper, a junior forward, has been a solid and steady performer all season long, averaging just under double-digit scoring for the season as well as 10.9 points and seven rebounds per game during league play. Highlighting the list of impressive individual performances this season for Cooper was Jan. 29th's road victory over Eastern New Mexico, when he tallied the first double-double of his career with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

From his low post position, Hinz has made an impact this season with WTAMU after playing his first two years at Frank Phillips College. The Amarillo High School product has been extremely productive and efficient with his offense, ranking among the nation's leaders with a shooting percentage of .699. Hinz averages 10.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game on the season, both figures that climbed in conference play, when he averaged 13.1 points and 4.7 rebounds a contest.

Also making his presence felt very quickly after joining Buff basketball has been Green. The guard from Philadelphia, Pa., has played been asked to play a variety of roles for the Buffs this year and has performed admirably in each role, finishing as the team's second leading scorer at 10.9 points per game. A lethal threat from distance, Green is shooting .507 from beyond the three-point arc this season.