Graham to play in All-Star game

Western Washington University men’s basketball guard Ira Graham has been selected to play in the 2009 National Association of Basketball Coaches/NCAA Division II All-Star Game at the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., on Friday, March 27 at 7 p.m. ET.
Graham, a 6-foot-1 senior from Fontana, Calif. (Fontana High School), was named to both the first-team NABC West District and Daktronics West Region all-star squads.  He will play for the West team.

The Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year, Graham finished his four-year career with 1,465 points, tying him for seventh among school leaders.  He scored 515 points as a senior, becoming the first Western player to have two 500-point seasons.

Graham, a two-time, first-team league all-star, helped the Vikings to a 21-6 record, the school’s first outright GNAC title and the first round of the NCAA II West Regional.  He averaged 19.1 points, being held under double figures in just two games, and 3.2 assists.

Graham was Western’s top scorer and ranked second among GNAC point leaders in each of the last two seasons.

“It’s certainly a high honor and one that is well deserved,” Western coach Brad Jackson (24th year, 445-256) said of Graham’s selection. “Ira has had one of the outstanding individual seasons in the West Region, and he will be an excellent representative of our university.”

Graham will be the second Viking to compete in the NABC DII all-star contest.  Western’s Ryan Diggs participated in the inaugural game in 2006, receiving co-MVP honors.

The all-star game is comprised of teams from the East and West, with at least two players from each of the eight NCAA II regions competing in the contest.   The all-stars will attend both the NCAA II Men’s Basketball Championship semifinals, March 26, and the national championship game, March 28, being recognized during halftime of a semifinal game.

The 20 participants in the all-star game were chosen from a pool of 265 teams in Division II.

 

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