Phoenix, AZ -- Freshman William Overton, Jr. and junior Keith Davis, the two dynamic scorers who led Academy of Art University this past year, were each recognized by the Pacific West Conference on Wednesday with the announcement of the 2010-11 All-PacWest Men's Basketball Team. Overton, Jr. was awarded PacWest Freshman of the Year while Davis earned a spot on the All-PacWest Second Team.

“I think it shows that our program has made progress and that we've taken a step in the right direction,” Head Coach Mark Sembrowich said. “We're proud of both of those guys. It was a team effort that really helped them. Obviously they are both talented players and it's nice that the coaches in our conference recognized their contributions and voted for them. We hope it's the start of continued improvement.”

This season, the PacWest coaches or designated representatives from each school selected 24 student-athletes and one coach for All-Conference accolades. The squads consisted of a First Team, Second Team and honorable mention (seven players in each group) along with a Player, Coach, Newcomer, and Freshman of the Year. Overton, Jr. and Davis both represented the Urban Knights in Wednesday's release.

In his first season with Academy of Art University, Overton, Jr. demonstrated an impressive ability to score and took home 2010-11 PacWest Freshman of the Year for his efforts. Overton, Jr., a product of Leuzinger High School, led ART U in scoring in 13 of its contests during the 2010-11 campaign. He completed the year with the third highest scoring average in the PacWest (17.4 points per game) and the highest on the team. In addition, Overton, Jr. ranked sixth in the conference in three-point shots made per game (1.7), 11th in blocked shots per game (0.6), 13th in defensive rebounds per game (3.9), and 17th in rebounds per game (4.7).

This past year, Academy of Art University's home opener on December 4, 2010 was a particularly special night for Overton, Jr. The freshman forward scored 44 points which not only set a new Academy of Art school record, but also made him historically the only PacWest men's basketball athlete to post such a point total in a single game. The freshman forward also set a new school record with 19 free throws made and added five 3-pointers made to compose his 44 points in that contest. Overton, Jr. would be named PacWest Player of the Week following that performance and later earned four additional PacWest Weekly Top 10 honors.

“I think both [Will and Keith] are very important parts for us going forward,” Coach Sembrowich said. “As we look to next year, I think that both of them are going to be counted on once again and we're really looking for a good offseason for them and the rest of our guys. Having two double-digit scorers at the top of our conference was a pretty good achievement. It really gave us a good one-two punch and, in most games, you could see one did damage or the other.”

Davis becomes the first Urban Knight to earn an All-PacWest Second Team honor after serving as the conference's fourth best scorer last season. Davis, a junior transfer from Humboldt State, averaged 16.5 points per game in his first year with Academy of Art. The Long Beach, CA native wrapped up 2010-11 ranked fifth in the PacWest in three-point percentage (.429), sixth in minutes played per game (30.1), 15th in free throw percentage (.723), 11th in offensive rebounds per game (1.7), was tied for 17th with Overton, Jr. after averaging 4.7 rebounds per contest.



Coming on the scene with a 25-point performance in his very first game with ART U on November 16, 2010 against Cal State East Bay, Davis was an extremely consistent source of offense all season. Davis led the Knights in scoring in 14 of their games this past year and he also had two memorable highlights to propel Academy of Art to a pair of back-to-back PacWest victories. On January 20, 2011, Davis made the game-winning basket with three seconds left in a 60-58 win over Grand Canyon and then five nights later on January 25, 2011, he did it once again. This time, the junior forward scored a layup with four seconds remaining to give the Knights their 66-64 triumph over Hawaii-Hilo, the conference's top team at the time. Davis also earned a total of 10 PacWest Weekly Top 10 honors over the course of the year.

The PacWest Conference press release is available on its website here!