2012-13 All-Pacific West Conference Men's Basketball Team

Phoenix, AZ -- Youth and age came together for the Academy of Art University men's basketball team this year, and in a final recognition of their efforts, senior Ameer Shamsud-din and freshman Alex Carmon both picked up postseason PacWest honors, it was announced on Thursday night. Shamsud-din was named to the All-PacWest Second Team, while Carmon started off his career by earning the PacWest Freshman of the Year award.

Shamsud-din capped off a fantastic career with the Urban Knights after transferring in for his junior year. This year the guard from Portland, OR averaged 16.4 points per game, just a touch off his mark last year of 16.6 ppg. He was part of an Urban Knights offense that averaged 74.8 points per game, their highest in program history, and finished the year sixth in the conference in scoring. This year he also upped his game from the point, dishing out 3.8 assists per game, good for seventh in the conference.

The Benson HS graduate adds to his All-PacWest Honorable Mention from last year, and will leave the Academy of Art with the most points scored in program history (876), the most field goals (302) and 3-pointers made (99), and the highest minutes per game average in program history. His career marks in 3-pointer percentage, free throws made, assists, and steals are all top five in program history.

"Ameer made a seamless transition from shooting guard to point guard this year and it's nice to see his efforts rewarded," said head coach Julius Barnes. "He worked his tail off to get into shape, as evidenced by his team-leading 37 minutes per game.  His leadership and poise on and off the court were key for us this year and his contributions will be sorely missed."

At the other end of the spectrum, Alex Carmon is just starting his ART U career, and made quite a statement in his debut campaign. The Long Beach Poly graduate averaged 14.8 points per game, good for the ninth-best mark in the league and the first among freshmen, as he was joined by only teammate Bryan Fisher as first-year players in the top 30 in scoring. He also shot 80.6 percent from the free-throw line, which was eight-best in the PacWest as he made the fourth-most total free throws in the league as well.

In his first year, Carmon put together the sixth-best scoring season in ART U history, totaling 371 points. Almost a third of those points came from the free throw line, as he became the first Urban Knight to make over 100 from the charity stripe. He also posted the highest free-throw percentage in program history, while also totaling a top five program mark in assists per game. Carmon had seven games scoring over 20 points, including a season-high 26 against Cal State Monterey Bay back on December 15.

"Alex made great strides over the course of the year," said Barnes. "He had some big moments for us and will be an important piece as we continue to get better.  I'm excited to watch him develop into more of a complete player between now and next fall."

The players combined to be one of the most potent backcourts in the conference, averaging more than 30 points per game between the two of them. They made the PacWest Weekly Fantastic 15 eight times a piece this year.