IRVING, Texas -Trey Freeman of Old Dominion FIU's Kris Gulley, Marshall's Austin Loop, the Rice duo of Seth Gearhart and Marcus Jackson and UTSA's Jeromie Hill were honored for their achievements in the classroom and on the court with selection to the 2015 Conference USA Men's Basketball All-Academic Team. The six are each first-time honorees, hold a minimum 3.2 GPA and are a starter or key reserve for their team.
Gulley is pursuing a master's degree in criminal justice. He has played in all 30 games for the Panthers with 24 starts (15 in conference play) and averages 4.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. In a 66-62 overtime win against Marshall, he tallied season-highs of nine points and seven rebounds. Gulley hails from Dallas, Texas, and played two seasons at Long Beach State before coming to FIU.
Loop is the league's top three-point weapon, draining a conference-best 79 treys on the season with a 38.3 percent efficiency. He scored a career-high 26 points against Charlotte on Jan. 10 and nailed six triples to fuel the Herd's 87-82 upset of WKU on Feb. 14. Loop is one of only two players to start every game for the Herd this season and was just offered a scholarship this season after joining the team as a walk-on. Loop is a two-time selection to the Commissioner's Honor Roll as a double major in clinical exercise physiology and biomechanics.
Freeman enters the final week of the regular season as the two-time defending Player of the Week. He averages 16.9 points per game, to rank third in Conference USA, and is eighth in assists (3.3 apg). He has scored at least 20 points 10 times this season. A native of Virginia Beach, Virginia, Freeman graduated in December with a degree in public relations and is currently pursuing a master's degree in sports management.
Gearhart and Jackson are the top two scorers on this Owl team that enters its regular-season finale already tied with the most conference wins since joining the league in 2004-05. A native of Wilsonville, Oregon, Gearhart has maintained a 3.32 GPA as an economics major with a business minor. He earned C-USA Player of the Week honors on Feb. 16 following a career-high 32 points and 10 rebounds in a double-overtime win against UAB. He ranks eighth on the C-USA scoring chart with 15.6 points per game. Gearhart has been named to the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll four times and also earned a spot on the 2014 NABC Academic Honors Court. Jackson averages 14 points per game to rank 13th in the league. He recorded three-straight 20-point games to open conference play and has eight overall this season. A native of Acton, California, Jackson is a two-time Commissioner's Honor Roll selection with a 3.26 GPA.
Hill rounds out this year's All-Academic squad. The native of Cairns, Australia, Hill earned his undergraduate degree in marketing and is now pursuing his MBA at UTSA. He is having a career season, averaging 16.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game to be the only player in C-USA to rank among the league's top five in both categories. Earlier this season, he became only the second player in UTSA program history to total 1,500 career points and 700 career rebounds. He also registered the top offensive performance in C-USA this season with a career-high 36 points.
Below is a complete list of the honorees, who will be competing in Saturday's men's basketball regular season final games before heading to Birmingham, Alabama, for the 2015 C-USA Men's Basketball Championship March 11-14.
2015 C-USA Men's Basketball All-Academic Team
NAME - SCHOOL - YEAR - GPA - MAJOR
Kris Gulley - FIU - Grad - 3.78 - Criminal Justice
Austin Loop - Marshall - Sophomore - 3.60 - Clinical Exercise Physiology/Biomechanics
Trey Freeman - Old Dominion - Junior - 3.25 - Public Relations/Sports Management
Seth Gearhart - Rice - Senior - 3.32 - Economics (Business)
Marcus Jackson - Rice - Sophomore - 3.26 - Undeclared
Jeromie Hill - UTSA - Grad - 3.85 - MBA