ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – It’s been a while, but the St. Bonaventure finally has another All-American in Andrew Nicholson.
Fresh off of leading the Bonnies to their first NCAA berth in 12 seasons, the senior earned Honorable Mention from the Associated Press, joining Bona legends Bob Lanier (1968-70) and Tom Stith (1960-61) on the list of St. Bonaventure All-Americans.
Nicholson stormed through the final month of the regular season to garner Atlantic 10 Player of the Year honors. He powered St. Bonaventure to its first A-10 Championship title – earning a nod for Most Outstanding Player along the way – after posting 26 points, 14 boards and eight blocks in a Championship-game win over Xavier that sent SBU to the NCAAs for the first time since 2000.
Nicholson ended one of the all-time great careers in Bona basketball ranked second in program history in points (2,103), field goal percentage (57.5) and blocked shots (244), while sitting fourth in total rebounds (887) in 123 games and 75 straight starts to end his career.
He ranks as the only player in the history of the Atlantic 10 Conference to earn four consecutive player of the week awards, averaging 25.3 points and 11.5 rebounds over the final eight conference games of the season. The Mississauga, Ontario native scored 18.5 points and snared 8.4 rebounds per contest overall, ranking as the only Atlantic 10 player to sit among the top five in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and blocks.
The 6-foot-9, 240-pound power forward once scored 44 points in a four-overtime win over Ohio at the Reilly Center, and added a 23-rebound contest against Duquesne this season. He also owns the school record with nine blocks, a feat he accomplished in just his 12th game in a Bona uniform.
The school’s fifth 2,000-point scorer behind Stith, Lanier, Greg Sanders and Earl Belcher, Nicholson earned First Team All-Conference citations after each of his final two seasons. after Second Team and Rookie of the Year plaudits in his initial campaigns. He is the seventh player in the 35-year history of the league to earn both Rookie and Player of the Year honors and the first Bona hoopster to earn the top overall award since Belcher won two in a row in 1980 and 81.
A first-round NBA draft prospect, Nicholson is on track to graduate with a degree in Physics from St. Bonaventure in May.
NOTES: Austin Rivers (Duke), Dion Waiters (Syracuse), Harrison Barnes (UNC), John Henson (UNC), Robbie Hummel (Purdue), Jeremy Lamb (UConn), Mason Plumlee (Duke), Cody Zeller (Indiana) are among the notables who also recieved Honorable Mention … Nicholson is the only Atlantic 10 player to receive AP honors.
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