A pair of John Brown University men's basketball student-athletes were honored with All-America selections, headlined by a third-team selection of sophomore Luke Harper, the NAIA national office announced Thursday afternoon.
Junior Densier Carnes was also tabbed for the honorable mention listing.
Improving this season by nearly 12 points per game, Harper led the Golden Eagles (28-5) to tying a program single-season win record by averaging 17.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. The native of Plano, Texas, was one of only three underclassmen on the NAIA All-America teams and was named to the All-Sooner Athletic Conference first team just a few short weeks ago.
"This has been such a memorable season, so now to be able to add these incredible honors to two very deserving players is really special," said JBU head men's coach Jason Beschta. "We are so proud of both Luke and Densier for earning these high honors. It speaks volumes of what amazing seasons they each had, with so many big performances and such consistent play throughout the season.
"What's even more impressive is that neither of them was any kind of All-Conference player last year, but they both made such big jumps, because of their commitment to excellence. Fortunately for us, Luke still has two more years and Densier will be returning next season for his senior year. I can't wait to see them continue to grow and flourish here."
Harper led JBU, and ranked sixth in the Sooner Athletic Conference, in scoring with 17.2 points per game and led the league with an 86 percent efficiency from the free throw line (92-of-107). Topping the 30-point mark twice, Harper scored at least 20 points on 11 occasions and finished third in the SAC with 2.6 triples per game and led the conference with 85 total three-pointers.
Harper now joins an elite list of Golden Eagles. Only four other student-athletes have earned a spot on the top three teams in program history as Harper is the first to achieve the honor since Adrian Miller (Class of 2012) landed second-team accolades in the 2011-12 season.
Carnes finished the 2019-20 campaign with 13 double-doubles, tied for seventh-most in the nation, and contributed 15.2 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. The Atlanta native's 291 total rebounds led the Sooner Athletic and finished seventh-best nationally.
Carnes set multiple single-game career bests this season, including a 32-point outburst versus Oklahoma City and a monster 18-rebound effort at Southwestern Christian. Like Harper, Carnes was a virtual lock at the charity stripe all season long, knocking down 84.9 percent (141-of-166), which finished third in the SAC and 11th overall in the NAIA.
Harper and Carnes became the first duo in program history to earn All-Sooner Athletic Conference first team honors in the same season.
Sports on 03/29/2020