STEPHENVILLE – Texans Freddy Hicks and Shamir Bogues were awarded Sunday with WAC postseason honors following standout regular seasons from both players. Both will lead Tarleton to new heights this week in the Texans’ first WAC Championship Tournament appearance in Las Vegas.
Hicks earned All-WAC Second Team recognition while Bogues was one of just five players named to the All-WAC Defensive Team. Awards were voted on by conference head coaches.
“Both of these young men are deserving of the recognition they have received,” said head coach Billy Gillispie. “It makes you really happy as a coach to have great players and fantastic young men leading your program. They have been more than anyone could have hoped for and it has been fun to watch their development here at Tarleton. They have become, not only great players in the WAC, but two of the best players in college basketball.
“It is an absolute joy to watch them represent the Tarleton State University Texans every time they take the court,” he added.
Hicks began his season as a Preseason All-WAC Second Team last October and shined despite battling through injuries. He started in all 20 of the games he appeared during the regular season while leading the team with 15.7 points per game on a 44.8 shooting percentage from the field. He is currently on pace to set the best scoring average in Tarleton’s D1 era.
The sophomore from Searcy, Arkansas made his season debut with 26 points and a new single-game NCAA D1 record for free throw attempts with 28 against Belmont at the Paradise Jam. His 18 made free throws from the same game were the most by any WAC player this season. He continued his solid play in the U.S. Virgin Islands, scoring 21 points and six rebounds against Boston College, helping Tarleton secure their first ever win against a Power Five opponent. He then dropped a season-best 30 points and nine rebounds against Drake in the Championship Game, earning a spot on the All-Tournament Team.
Hicks averaged a team-high 5.6 rebounds per game on the season, with 2.5 APG, 1.2 SPG and 0.5 BPG to boot. He had six 20-point games, tied for the sixth-most such games in the WAC. He also had 15 double-digit scoring performances and 14 multi-assist outings, including a career-high six assists twice this year, in his 20 regular season games.
Bogues now has been named to the All-WAC Defensive Team in back-to-back seasons. He was top-three on the Texans in scoring, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks in the regular season.
He led the Texans in rebounds (113) and is now tied for third for steals (63) in a single season at Tarleton. His 63 steals this season also has him at the top of the WAC leaders heading into the postseason. He is on pace for career-highs in rebounds per game (3.6) and steals per game (2.0).
Bogues recorded his first career double-double with 30 points and 11 steals in the Texans’ regular season finale, securing Tarleton’s all-time single-game steals and surpassing Chris Brown’s (1994-95) 10 steals.
The Killeen native recorded two 20-point games this season and started in 30-of-31 games for Tarleton. He recorded 24 multi-rebound and 18 multi-steal showings, contributing heavily to Tarleton’s No. 1 ranking in the WAC in steals and turnover margin.
Tarleton will make their WAC Tournament Championship debut Tuesday night at 7 p.m. CT / 6 p.m. MT at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas against 10-seed UTRGV. The Texans are the No. 7 seed in the tournament.
The complete list of All-WAC teams and individual honorees is below:
Player of the Year: Qua Grant, Sam Houston
Defensive Player of the Year: Aziz Bandaogo, Utah Valley
Sixth Man of the Year: Dee Barnes, Southern Utah
Freshman of the Year: Chendall Weaver, UT Arlington
Newcomer of the Year: Aziz Bandaogo, Utah Valley
Coach of the Year: Mark Madsen, Utah Valley
All-WAC First Team
Ray Harrison, Grand Canyon
Qua Grant, Sam Houston
Cameron Tyson, Seattle U
Tevian Jones, Southern Utah
Aziz Bandaogo, Utah Valley
Le’Tre Darthard, Utah Valley
Trey Woodbury, Utah Valley
Justin Johnson, UTRGV
All-WAC Second Team
Taran Armstrong, California Baptist
Gabe McGlothan, Grand Canyon
Donte Powers, Sam Houston
Riley Grigsby, Seattle U
Maizen Fausett, Southern Utah
Sadaidriene Hall, Stephen F. Austin
Freddy Hicks, Tarleton
Cameron Gooden, Utah Tech
WAC All-Defensive Team
Damien Daniels, Abilene Christian
Javion May, Sam Houston
Shamir Bogues, Tarleton
Aziz Bandaogo, Utah Valley
Le’Tre Darthard, Utah Valley
WAC All-Newcomer Team
Ray Harrison, Grand Canyon
Qua Grant, Sam Houston
Cameron Huefner, Sam Houston
Drake Allen, Southern Utah
Aziz Bandaogo, Utah Valley
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