NJCAA/NABC 2017 Men's Basketball Player of the Year

SHAKUR JUISTON

After leading the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team to the 2017 NJCAA National Championship, national awards began to pour in for Blue Dragon sophomore forward Shakjur Juiston.

That includes the two biggest a junior college basketball player can win - the NJCAA Division I National Player of the Year and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Junior College National Player of the Year. The NABC recognizes only one national player of the year from all three NJCAA Divisions as well as other junior college associations around the country not affiliated with the NJCAA.

Juiston a 6-foot-7 forward from Newark., New Jersey, is the second Blue Dragon ever to be named the NABC National Player of the Year. Juiston joins Kadeem Allen, who won the awards in 2014.

Juiston was also a first-team NJCAA and NABC All-American. Juiston was also named the Jayhawk Conference Player of the Year and Region VI Player of the Year.

In leading the Blue Dragons to their third National Championship in team history, Juiston was also named the NJCAA Tournament Most Valuable Player after leading the Blue Dragons to their third national championship after Hutchinson defeated Eastern Florida State 84-58 in the national championship game at the Sports Arena. He had four double-doubles in the NJCAA Tournament.

Juiston had tournament highs of 88 points, 56 rebounds and averaged 5.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game over four games.

For the 2016-17 season, Juiston averaged a double-double for the season at 17.3 points and 12.1 rebounds per game in his sophomore season. Juiston shot 60.9 percent from the field and averaged 3.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.8 blocked shots per game.

Juiston had 26 double-doubles and one triple-double.

Juiston broke the program's career rebounding record of 741 and recorded 20 rebounds in a game against Dodge City. Juiston ranked sixth in the NJCAA in total rebounds and was first in the nation in defensive rebounding average.

Juiston's 446 total rebounds this past season were third most in team history. His 12.1 boards per game average tied Ben Davis (1994) for sixth on the season list. His 67 blocks were seventh most in team season history.

Juiston ranked fourth in Region VI in scoring, third in field-goal percentage, led the league in rebounding and tied for the conference lead in blocked shots.

SHAKUR JUISTIN'S CAREER BLUE DRAGON STATISTICS