Welton Leads Spartans Honored by NAC

AURORA, Ill. March 12, 2007 - The Aurora University Spartan men’s basketball team received Northern Athletics Conference honors as the NAC men’s coaches announced the 2006-2007 NAC All-Conference teams and awards

AU brought home the NAC Player of the Year award, with junior forward Larry Welton (Chicago, IL/Thornwood HS) being named NAC Player of the Year and First-Team All-Conference. The Player of the Year award is Welton’s third consecutive with the previous two coming in the former Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference. Welton finished as the NAC leader in scoring with an 20.1 point per game average in 18 contests, leading AU to an 16-2 record in the first year of the conference. In addition to his scoring prowess, Welton averaged 6.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocked shots per game.

Joining Welton in post-season recognition by the NAC is senior guard Darrick Leonard (Hazel Crest, IL/Rich Central H.S.) and junior forward Mike Leonard (Chicago, IL/Julian H.S.). Both Leonard’s were named Northern Athletics All Conference by the conference’s men’s basketball coaches. In their first seasons at Aurora, Darrick and Mike were key contributors in the Spartans 25-3 overall record and NAC conference regular season and tournament championships. Darrick Leonard averaged 14.9 points and 5.89 assists per game, while Mike Leonard averaged 13.0 points and 6.6 rebounds per game in conference action.

Spartan Head Coach James Lancaster was named Northern Athletics Conference Coach of the Year as selected by his fellow coaches. Lancaster led the Aurora University men’s basketball team this season to a 25-3 record and went 16-2 in the NAC. In his 13 season’s at the helm of the men’s program, Lancaster is 240-102 overall. The Coach of the Year award is Lancaster’s fifth in his 13 years as men’s basketball coach, the other three coming after the 1997-1998, 1998-1999, 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 seasons in the former Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference.

On the season, Welton led the Spartans in scoring, averaging 20.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and shot 44.7 percent from the field. Welton continued his move up the illustrious AU men’s basketball all-time scoring list, where he is currently fifth with 1,736 points. The all-time leader is the legendary Mickey Johnson with 2,453 points. D. Leonard chipped in 15.7 points and 5.71 assists per game, while M. Leonard averaged 11.6 points and 7.0 rebounds.

The Spartan men finished the 2006-2007 season with a 25-3 record (the 25 wins are an AU school). and were 16-2 in the NAC, including winning the regular season and tournament championships. The Spartans advanced to the NCAA Division III championship but fell to Calvin College 69-68 in AU’s Thornton Gymnasium.

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