College Notebook

NC State’s Dennis Smith Jr. named finalist for Bob Cousy Award

N.C. State men’s basketball freshman Dennis Smith Jr., was selected as one of 10 finalists for this year’s Bob Cousy Award by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Monday.

The Cousy Award honors the top point guard in college basketball.

Smith leads all ACC freshmen in scoring, assists, steals, assist-to-turnover ratio (2.07) and minutes played per game (33.7).

Smith joins UNC-Chapel Hill’s Joel Berry as the only ACC players to be named finalists.

Elon: Sophomore forward Tyler Seibring earned his second-consecutive CAA Co-Player of the Week honor for his performance in the team's two road victories last week against Northeastern and Hofstra.

Seibring scored a team-high 15 points and added eight rebounds as the Phoenix handed Northeastern its first home loss of the season 51-49 on Thursday. He followed with a team-best 23 points and six boards in an 84-70 triumph at Hofstra on Saturday.

Campbell: Junior guard MaKala Rouse has been named the Big South Conference Player of the Week. It is Rouse’s first career Big South honor.

Rouse nearly averaged a triple-double between a pair of Camels victories last week. Her stat line included 15.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game.

N.C. State: Miah Spencer and Ashley Williams have been selected to participate in the 2017 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association “So You Want to Be A Coach” class. The Wolfpack duo will participate in a three-day workshop held March 29-31 in conjunction with the WBCA Convention in Dallas.

ECU: The Pirates (10-11, 1-7 AAC) head to Tulsa (7-14, 3-5 AAC) to face the Hurricane at 8 p.m.. The Pirates look to snap a five-game conference losing streak and pick up their first AAC road game of the season.

Kristen Gaffney leads the team with 14.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game while Bre McDonald averages 11.5 points and 5.9 boards per game.

Shaw: Fans are invited to join head football coach Adrian Jones and his coaching staff for a signing day celebration in the Ball Room of the Willie E. Gary Student Services Center on Wednesday for a social hour that will begin at 6:30 p.m., with a short program following at approximately 7 p.m. The event is free, open to the public.

Wake Forest: Junior Stuart Fairchild was named a second-team Preseason All-American by Baseball America on Monday. Fairchild had previously been named a second-team Preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball and third-team honoree by Perfect Game.

The Demon Deacons are less than three weeks away from the season-opener, beginning with a doubleheader against Nicholls and Houston in Texas on Feb. 17.

N.C. State: Nick Horton has advanced through qualifying and into the main draw of the USTA Pro Circuit Men’s Futures Tournament at Palm Coast after defeating three opponents in straight sets.

Horton started with a bye in the round of 128 before dominating the second round for a 6-1, 6-1 victory. He added a 7-6(4), 6-0 victory in the third round over Brazil’s Rafael Gentil and booked his spot in the main draw with a win over 13-seed Eduardo Ribeiro with a 6-1, 6-4 win.

N.C. State: Kasey Nelson will join the Wolfpack in the fall of 2017, as announced by head coach Mark Stevenson. Nelson is a level-10 gymnast who trains at Georgia Elite Gymnastics in Athens, Ga.,

In 2015, Nelson finished third in the all-around and first on balance beam at the Atlanta Crown Invitational. At the Made in the USA Invitational, she grabbed gold medals on uneven bars, balance beam, floor exercise and in the all-around.

Shaw: The team finished third among Southern Division teams competing at the CIAA Divisional Meet, held Jan. 27-29 at the B&B Lanes. The Bears had a total of 6,009 team match pins and 3,465 Baker’s for a 6-6 overall event record.

Next up, the team will head to Richmond, Va. for the CIAA Round-up hosted by Virginia Union University Feb. 10-12 at the Bowl America Southwest.

From news releases

This story was originally published January 30, 2017 at 11:30 PM with the headline "College Notebook."