Gagnon Named To C-USA All-Academic Team
March 07, 2008 | Men's Basketball
March 7, 2008
IRVING, Texas - East Carolina senior Taylor Gagnon was on of three seniors and two juniors to be named to the 2008 Conference USA Men's Basketball All-Academic Team, which consists of five student-athletes that have earned a 3.2 cumulative grade point average or better and are a starter or key reserve on the men's basketball team.
Joining Gagnon on the team were two repeat selections, seniors Paulius Packevicius of Rice and Jon Killen of SMU. Tulsa junior Sam Mitchell and UAB junior Reggie Huffman also earned a spot on the team.
Gagnon has made 14 starts in 23 games played for the Pirates this season. He is averaging 2.2 points and 2.3 rebounds in 13 minutes per game. A 6-foot-6 forward, Gagnon was awarded a scholarship this season after spending three years on the team as a walk-on. The Greenville, N.C., native is a four-time selection to the Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll with a 3.59 GPA in finance.
Packevicius is a three-time selection to the Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll with a 3.58 grade point average in economics and managerial studies. Packevicius played in the Owls first 18 games of the season, before suffering a knee injury during a January practice. At the time of his injury, he was averaging 11.1 points and 9.8 rebounds per game (second in Conference USA). Packevicius was also named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Killen has started all 28 games for the Mustangs so far this season, averaging 13.1 points, and 4.96 assists per game (the second-best distribution in C-USA). The native of Arlington, Texas, has also pocketed 1.54 steals per game to rank fifth in the conference. He is a business management and sociology major with a 3.45 GPA. In his second season as team captain, Killen serves as SMU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was the recipient of the Meyer Brothers' Award at SMU for combined academic success, athletic achievement and community involvement.
Tulsa's Mitchell has played in all 28 games for the Golden Hurricane. He is a three-time member of the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll and Athletics Director's Honor Roll. Mitchell, a finance major from Bartlesville, Okla., maintains a 3.4 GPA and is averaging 1.9 points and 1.9 rebounds in more than 11 minutes per game.
In his first year with the Blazers, Huffman has played in all 30 games with 26 starts. He is averaging 7.2 points and 6.1 rebounds (second on the team) per game, with a team-best five double-doubles. He scored a career-high 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in UAB's 101-99 win over Houston on Feb. 20, then followed up with a career-high 14 rebounds in the Blazers' next game. The Birmingham, Ala., native has a 3.28 GPA as a communications studies major.
All five student-athletes will lead their respective teams into the 2008 Conference USA Men's Basketball Championship, March 12-15 at FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn.
2008 CONFERENCE USA MEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM Name School Class GPA Major Taylor Gagnon East Carolina Senior 3.59 Finance Paulius Packevicius Rice Senior 3.58 Economics and Managerial Studies Jon Killen SMU Senior 3.45 Business-Management/Sociology Sam Mitchell Tulsa Junior 3.40 Finance Reggie Huffman UAB Junior 3.28 Communications Studies
