KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Central Methodist University's Ron Lee was named to the Third Team All-America squad on Thursday after finishing the year as the fourth-leading scorer in the nation and 14th in three-point field goals per game, the NAIA national office reported.
Lee, a 6-2, 185-lb. guard from Oak Park, Calif. and transfer from Arizona Western College two years ago, finished the 2016-17 season ranked in the top 50 in eight statistical categories, while leading CMU in scoring with a 21.7 points per game average. He led the Eagles in points (651) and steals (47).
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n other statistical national rankings, Lee ranked seventh in total points, 16th in three-point field goals made (81), 38th in three-point field goal percentage (.415), 40th in field goal percentage (.483), 41st in steals and 42nd in steals per game (1.57).
He helped Central Methodist to a 17-14 season record and a spot in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Postseason Tournament with a 14-12 mark.
He not only led the league in scoring, but was fifth in field goal percentage and fifth in steals per game.
In his two seasons at CMU, Lee scored 1,224 points, averaged 20.1 points a contest, recorded 79 steals, averaging 1.3 per game, pulled down 242 rebounds for a 4.0 average per contest. Lee connected on .456 (393-of-862) of his field goals, .399 (174-of-436) of his three-pointers and .746 (264-of-354) of his free throws.
He scored a career-high of 40 points this past season against William Penn University on Nov. 12 and pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds in the 2015-16 season against Graceland University on Feb. 20. He also recorded a career-high seven steals this season against Missouri Valley College on Feb. 11.
Lee joins only four other Heart of America players on the first three teams. Torren Jones of William Penn University earned First-Team All-American honors, while Benedictine College's Andre Yates was a second team member. Justin Randall of MidAmerica Nazarene University was also a Third-Team All-American honoree. Seven players in the conference received honorable mention.
2017 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball All-American's
| First Team | ||||
| Name | School | Pos. | Yr. | Hometown |
| Zach Taylor & | Carroll (Mont.) | Guard | Sr. | Duvall, Wash. |
| Liam Hunt | Hope International (Calif.) | Center | Jr. | San Anselmo, Calif. |
| Dalarian Williams ^ | Life (Ga.) | Forward | Sr. | Pensacola, Fla. |
| Brian Sylvester | LSU Alexandria (La.) | Forward | Sr. | Breaux Bridge, La. |
| Kieston Standfield & | Middle Georgia State | Center | Sr. | Birmingham, Ala. |
| Xavier Smith | Oklahoma City | Center | Sr. | Richardson, Texas |
| Joe Jackson & | Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) | Forward | Sr. | San Antonio Texas |
| Xavielle Brown* | Park (Mo.) | Guard | Sr. | Ft. Wayne, Ind. |
| Dion Rogers | Texas Wesleyan | Guard | Sr. | North Brunswick, N.J. |
| Torren Jones | William Penn (Iowa) | Forward | Sr. | Chandler, Ariz. |
| Second Team | ||||
| Name | School | Position | Class | Hometown |
| Andre Yates | Benedictine (Kan) | Guard | Sr. | Dayton, Ohio |
| Dakari Archer * | Biola (Calif.) | Guard | Sr. | Downey, Calif. |
| Carnilious Simmons | Dalton State (Ga.) | Forward | Jr. | Atlanta, Ga. |
| Demetric Austin & | Dillard (La.) | Forward | Sr. | Washington, D.C. |
| Brandon Moss | LSU Alexandria (La.) | Forward | Jr. | Bessemer, Ala. |
| Dom Robinson | Montana Western | Guard | Jr. | Tacoma, Wash. |
| Darrion Leslie | Pikeville (Ky.) | Forward | Jr. | Huntsville, Ala. |
| Taran Buie % | Science & Arts (Okla.) | Guard | Sr. | Albany, N.Y. |
| Reid Shackleford | The Master's (Calif.) | Guard | Sr. | Murrietta, Calif. |
| Cory Blau & | Westmont (Calif.) | Guard | Sr. | Laguna Niguel, Calif. |
| Third Team | ||||
| Name | School | Position | Class | Hometown |
| Ryan Imhoff | Carroll (Mont.) | Forward | Jr. | Napa, Calif. |
| Ron Lee Jr. | Central Methodist (Mo.) | Guard | Sr. | Oak Park, Calif. |
| Jackson Dubinski | Columbia (Mo.) | Guard | Jr. | Columbia, Mo. |
| Curtis Jones | Langston (Okla.) | Guard | Sr. | Chicago, Ill. |
| Caleb Chowbay | Martin Methodist (Tenn.) | Guard | Sr. | Nashville, Tenn. |
| Justin Randall | MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | Forward | Sr. | Burlington, Iowa |
| Shyke Smalls | Montana Western | Guard | Sr. | Great Falls, Mont. |
| Jordan Washington* | Talladega (Ala.) | Guard | Sr. | Memphis, Tenn. |
| Naiel Smith | Texas Wesleyan | Guard | Sr. | Brookyln, N.Y. |
| Leo Garrett | William Carey (Miss.) | Guard | Sr. | Brookhaven, Miss. |
| ^ 2017 NAIA Player of the Year | ||||
| * 2016 All-America First Team | ||||
| & 2016 All-America Second Team | ||||
| % 2016 All-America Third Team |
| Honorable Mention | |
| Name | School |
| Chris Sterling | Arizona Christian |
| Caelan Tiongson | Biola (Calif.) |
| Eric Kinney | Campbellsville (Ky.) |
| Jaylen McBride | Central Baptist (Ark.) |
| Malik Ray | Columbia (Mo.) |
| Nic Reynolds | Columbia (Mo.) |
| Diondrey Holt Jr | Cumberland (Tenn.) |
| Marquis Yates | Cumberlands (Ky.) |
| Isaiah Box | Dalton State (Ga.) |
| Quinton Jackson | Dillard (La.) |
| Jalen McGaughy | Dillard (La.) |
| Dennis Hightower | Dillard (La.) |
| Di'mar Hill | Faulkner (Ala.) |
| Fitzgerald Hopkins | Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) |
| Troy Steward | Georgetown (Ky.) |
| Quan Poindexter | Georgetown (Ky.) |
| Jeremy Deemer | Graceland (Iowa) |
| Nathan Washington | Grand View (Iowa) |
| Jjuan Hadnot | Grand View (Iowa) |
| Jalen Fletcher | Harris-Stowe State (Mo.) |
| Malcom Ballard | Huston-Tillotson (Texas) |
| Doug McDaniel | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
| Zavon Jackson | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
| Zach Landis | Life (Ga.) |
| Charles Sutton | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
| Dmitry Utolin | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
| Johnny Griffin Jr. | Loyola (La.) |
| Gilbert Talbot | LSU Alexandria (La.) |
| Benjamin Batts | LSU Shreveport (La.) |
| AJ Lynch | Martin Methodist (Tenn.) |
| Olajuwon Garner | Mid-America Christian (Okla.) |
| Jared White | Missouri Baptist |
| Brody Gronewold | Missouri Valley |
| Ben Struss | Mount Mercy (Iowa) |
| C.J Parker | Mount Mercy (Iowa) |
| BJ Watson | Park (Mo.) |
| Rashad Brackeen | Peru State (Neb.) |
| Christopher Ward | Philander Smith (Ark.) |
| Zach Hinton | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
| Riley Bradshaw | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
| Keyunta Watkins | SAGU (Texas) |
| Isaak Rowe | SAGU (Texas) |
| Rodney Smith | St. Gregory (Okla.) |
| Marvin White | Southwestern Christian (Okla.) |
| Najeal Young | Texas Wesleyan |
| Lawrence Russell | The Master's (Calif.) |
| Andravious Smith | Tougaloo (Miss.) |
| Zach Allmon | Vanguard (Calif.) |
| Denzel Famble | Voorhees (S.C.) |
| Maurice Redmond | Wayland Baptist (Texas) |
| Jerry Karczewski | Westmont (Calif.) |
| Ricardo Artis | Wiley (Texas) |
| George Page | Wiley (Texas) |
| Chris Murry | William Jessup (Calif.) |
| Lionel Ellison | William Penn (Iowa) |
| Trey Mitchell | William Woods (Mo.) |
CMU Men's Basketball Contact: John Kruger
Phone: 936-332-9332 | jkrueger@centralmethodist.edu
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Website: www.CMUEagles.com
