BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Darren White of Campbell University has been named Big South Conference pre-season player of the year by CollegeSportsMadness.com, while sophomore Trey Freeman has been named to the Madness pre-season all-league second team.
A Madness pre-season all-conference first team choice, White is the second-leading scorer among Big South returning players. He and Freeman were named to the Big South pre-season all-conference first team in voting by league head coaches released earlier this month.
Coming off a 17-15 season when it finished third (11-7) in the Big South standings, Coach Robbie Laing's Fighting Camels return three starters from last year's club, including Freeman, White and junior forward Marvelle Harris. Campbell was also picked by league coaches and media members to win the Big South Conference North Division.
A senior from Danville, Va., White finished 5th among league scoring leaders (16.8), 4th in field goal percentage (.520) and 8th in blocks (1.06) in 2011-12, when he was named to the all-conference second team. The 6-foot-4 wing guard scored in double figures 28 times in 32 games, including 10 contests of 20 or more points. He scored 33 points in a game twice (setting a Gore Arena record in the process) – against North Carolina A&T in CU's first outing in the Dale Howard Classic – and vs. Methodist.
White set a school junior class record for points (536) in a year, a total that is tied for the 8th-highest in CU senior college (since 1961-62) history and 4th-most in the Division I era. He nearly missed a triple-double with 22 points, a career-high 16 rebounds and 8 assists in a win over VMI, setting a CU Gore Arena rebounding mark in the process.
He was chosen Big South player of the week twice by CollegeSportsMadness.com, the second time following a 25-point (18 in the second half) performance in CU's 87-81 loss at NC State. White was selected for Big South monthly all-league teams by CollegeHoops.net in November, December and January.
In addition, White was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Honors Court and earned a place on the Big South Conference Presidential Honor Roll. An information technology and security major, White owns a 3.41 cumulative grade-point average.
Freeman was named the 2012 Big South Conference freshman of the year and to the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Freshman All-America Team. The 6-foot-2 point guard led all Big South freshmen in scoring (13.9), free throw percentage (.871), field goal accuracy (.437), assist-turnover ratio (1.59) and minutes played (32.03), while ranking 2nd in assists (3.83).
A native of Virginia Beach, Va., Freeman led the conference and ranked 26th in the nation in foul shooting. Overall, he finished sixth among Big South leaders in assists, fifth in assist-turnover ratio, 8th in minutes and 14th in scoring.
In addition to being the leading vote-getter on the Big South all-freshman team, Freeman was named to the Big South all-conference 4th team by College Sports Madness. He was one of 25 players selected to the 2012 Mid-Major freshman team by CollegeInsider.com, which produces the weekly Mid-Major Top-25 poll.
Freeman scored in double digits 23 times in 28 games, including five, 20-point efforts. He scored a season-high 28 points in a 96-82 win over Liberty (Dec. 1), tallied 22 in a 62-57 triumph over Charleston Southern (Feb. 2) and had 20 (including 12-of-12 from the line) in Campbell's 76-74 victory against East Carolina (Nov. 14). He was named Big South freshman of the week three times during the year.
He opened the year by setting a school record of 29-straight free throws made, a mark he broke in January and February when he hit 35 in a row from the line. On the year, he made 101 of his 116 foul shots to set a school record for free throw accuracy.
Freeman recorded the 2nd-highest scoring game by a Camel freshman in his collegiate debut with a 22-point effort on Nov. 11, 2011 vs. Houston Baptist. Only Clarence Grier (25 points at East Carolina on Nov. 26, 1983) has scored more points in his freshman debut for the Camels since the program moved to the Division I ranks in 1977-78.
Not only did the 2011-12 Camels earn the program's highest seed in a conference tournament since 1996, fans responded by jamming Gilbert Craig Gore Arena. Five of the top 10 single-game crowds in the 4-year history of the 3,095-seat facility came during the 2011-12 campaign including a pair of games that topped the 3000-attendance mark. Campbell led all Big South schools in home game attendance (2020) during conference play.
Since moving into Gore Arena before the 2008-09 campaign, Campbell has produced a 40-16 (.714) record at the building, including an 11-2 mark in 2011-12.
Over the past four seasons, the Camels have won 62 games – the most in a 4-year span in the program's Division I history – and compiled a 42-36 (.538) mark in regular season league action.
The Camels knocked off a BCS conference member school (Iowa) for the second-straight year, swept the two-game series from defending league regular season champ Coastal Carolina, and defeated East Carolina in Buies Creek for the second-straight game. Campbell finished 11th in the nation in field goal percentage (.484), 15th in blocks (5.2) and 20th in assists (15.5).
Campbell hosts Coker in a pre-season game on Thursday, Nov. 1 at 7:00 p.m. The regular season starts Nov. 9 vs. Averett, the first of three-straight home games to open the campaign.
CollegeSportsMadness.com
Big South Conference
Pre-Season Coach of the Year: Barclay Radebaugh (Charleston Southern)
Pre-Season Player of the Year: Darren White (Campbell)
Pre-Season Freshman of the Year: Shea Jones (Presbyterian)
Pre-Season All-Conference Teams
First Team
Jeremy Atkinson / UNC Asheville / Sr. / Forward / Elm City, N.C.Saah Nimley / Charleston Southern / Soph. / Guard / Lawrenceville, Ga.
Stan Okoye / VMI / Sr. / Forward / Raleigh, N.C.
Anthony Raffa / Coastal Carolina / Sr.-R / Guard / Sea Isle, N.J.
Darren White / Campbell / Sr. / Guard / Danville, Va.
Second Team
Antwan Burrus / Liberty / Sr. / Forward / Winterville, N.C.
Allan Chaney / High Point / Sr. / Forward / Baltimore, Md.
Trey Freeman / Campbell / Soph. / Guard / Virginia Beach, Va.
Kierre Greenwood / Coastal Carolina / Sr. / Guard / Cincinnati, Ohio
Tashan Newsome / Gardner-Webb / Sr.-R / Guard / Albany, N.Y.
Third Team
Arlon Harper / Charleston Southern / Soph. / Guard / College Park, Ga.
Joab Jerome / Winthrop / Jr. / Forward / Marietta, Ga.
Corey Law / High Point / Sr.-R / Forward / Chesapeake, Va.
Khalid Mutakabbir / Presbyterian / Sr. / Guard / Suwanee, Ga.
R.J. Price / Radford / Soph. / Guard / Mechanicsville, Va.
Fourth Team
Tristan Carey / Longwood / Jr. / Guard / Colonial Beach, Va.
Javonte Green / Radford / So. / Forward / Alberta, Va.
Donta Harper / Gardner-Webb / Soph. / Forward / Winterville, N.C.
Branimir Mikulic / High Point / Sr. / Forward / Siroki Brijeg, Herzegovina
Tavares Speaks / Liberty / Sr. / Guard / Raleigh, N.C.
