(Published Thursday, March 22, 2007 11:46:53 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Gazette Staff
A fabulous high school basketball career ended in fitting style, at least individually, for Keaton Nankivil.
The Madison Memorial senior and University of Wisconsin recruit, previously selected as the AP state Player of the Year, has been named Big Eight Conference boys Player of the Year for the second straight season.
The 6-foot-9 Nankivil is joined on the coaches' All-Big Eight first team by Janesville Craig junior Lucas Burns, Middleton senior Will Hudson, Madison La Follette junior Cashton Craig and Memorial sophomore Jeronne Maymon.
Nankivil is the only repeater on the first team. Madison East senior Chris Davis, who led the league with a 20.4 scoring average, heads the second team.
Steve Collins, who led Memorial to a fourth straight Big Eight championship and a record 36-game conference win streak, is the Coach of the Year.
Nankivil, also the Wisconsin Coaches Association Co-Player of the Year, averaged 17.1 points in 15 conference games. He helped lead Memorial to a 21-3 record this season and 94-8 mark and four state tournaments in varsity career.
"I remember watching him run up and down the floor as a freshman, thinking this kid is a can't-miss prospect," Craig coach Bob Suter said of Nankivil, whose career ended with a heartbreaking 49-46 overtime loss to Milwaukee Vincent in the state quarterfinals. "He's one of the most dominating players to come through our conference in a long time.
"I think the biggest praise I can give Keaton is that he was a kid that really represented his school in a positive way on the floor, and he was even more impressive off the floor,'' Suter said. "He always said the right things about his teammates, opponents and anyone he came in contact with."
Burns led third-place Craig in scoring and rebounding for the second straight season, despite being double-teamed by a number of opponents. The 6-6 standout averaged 15.4 points in the conference in moving up from last year's second-team selection.
"Anytime you played Craig, the first thing you had to account for was Lucas Burns," Suter said. "There were games where we didn't always have a No. 2 or No. 3 scoring option, so Lucas had to really carry us at times.
"Nobody is going to outwork Lucas. With his ability, he makes the players around him better. That's the highest compliment I can give him."
Hudson, an Oakland (Mich.) recruit, was second in the league in scoring with a 20-point average.
Maymon, an electrifying 6-6 sophomore, averaged 15.1 points in 13 conference games. He helped lead Memorial to a runner-up finish in the 2006 Division 1 state finals and back to the Kohl Center this season.
Craig paced La Follette with an 18.1 scoring average and led the league in three-point goals with 31.
Janesville has five players receive honorable mention. They are Craig senior guard Jason Mair, junior sixth-man JoJo Pregont and junior Cooper Cullen, along with Parker senior guard Matt McCulloch and junior center Riley Grafft.
