LAFAYETTE, La. - Capping his senior year in style, Centenary Gents basketball's James Sapp received First Team All-State honors by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA).
With Sapp's honor, a Gent has received either First, Second or Third Team All-Louisiana accolades in each of the past six seasons. Centenary is one of only five institutions in the Pelican State (Louisiana-Lafayette, LSU, Louisiana Tech and Northwestern State) that can make that claim.
Sapp has become the first Gent since Jonathan Blount in 2014 to be named to the First Team.
The first player to lead the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference in both scoring and rebounding in nine seasons, Sapp grabbed his second SCAC Player of the Year award (2014-15). He is only the third player - and second Gent (Blount) - to win multiple Conference Player of the Year accolades and the first to accomplish this feat in non-consecutive seasons.
In 2016-17, Sapp led the SCAC with 21.5 points and 10.1 rebounds per game, ranking 34th and 41st in the country, respectively. He finished the season with 15 double-doubles and his career with 38, the second-straight season averaging a double-double.
With 263 rebounds this season, he broke the SCAC career record and finished his career with 953 rebounds - along with 1,551 points. In his final home game of his career, he became only the fifth Gent and the first player in conference history to eclipse the 1500-point and 900-rebound marks.
This season, he scored the seventh-most points (43) in a single game in program history in a 98-95 loss against Texas Lutheran January 22. He was named SCAC Player of the Week on November 28 and February 20, receiving that honor eight times in his Gents career.
Besides his SCAC awards, Sapp earned South All-Region mention by both D3Hoops.com and the National Association of Basketball Coaches. He also received All-American recognition by the NABC (Third Team) and DIII News (Honorable Mention).
