March 11, 2011

Contact: Brian McCann

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The honors continue to pour in for Cleveland State senior guard Norris Cole as he was named on Friday to the all-district team by both the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the United States Basketball Writer's Association.

The USBWA District V team, which consists of players from the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin, consists of Ben Hansbrough (Notre Dame), Tu Holloway (Xavier), Matt Howard (Butler), JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore from Purdue, Jon Leuer (Wisconsin), Kalin Lucas (Michigan State), Demetri McCarney (Illinois) and Jared Sullinger (Ohio State) and Cole. The team was determined in balloting of USBWA members within the district.

The NABC District 12 squad, which is comprised of players from the Horizon and Summit Leagues and determined through a balloting of the coaches within the district, consists of Oakland's Keith Benson, IUPUI's Alex Young, Valparaiso's Brandon Wood, Butler's Howard and Cole.

"It is an honor to be named to these two district teams," Cole said. "Awards like this are the result of hard work and success by both myself and my team. We've worked hard as a group to win 26 games and the Horizon League regular season title this year and it is nice to see that both the coaches and sportswriters in the district respect that."

This has been a good week for Cole, who on Thursday (March 10) was named as one of the five finalists for the 2011 Bob Cousy Award, which is presented annually to the nation's top point guard.

Cole has had a record-setting season. The first player in league history to be named Horizon League Player of the Year and Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year in the same season, he led the Horizon League in scoring (21.6 ppg), steals (2.2) and free throw percentage (.853), ranked second in assists (5.3), third in minutes played (35.6), fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.93) and defensive rebounds (5.2) and seventh in rebounds. Cole set the CSU single season records for points (715), free throws made (215) and free throws attempted (252).

Cole had the top individual game in the Horizon League this year in scoring (41 vs. Youngstown State), rebounds (20 vs. Youngstown State), free throws made (15 vs. Green Bay) and steals (6 vs. UIC).

Cole will enter post-season play next week as the Cleveland State career record holder in games played (138), consecutive games played (138) and minutes played (4,038). He also ranks second in career victories (89), third in free throws made (473), field goals attempted (1,516) and fourth in career scoring (1,933 points), free throws attempted (573) and field goals made (662).