AMHERST, Massachusetts -- John Pavelski (Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ) has been selected to the 1997-98 GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-America District I Men's Basketball First Team. This is the second year that the senior forward has won this honor, which makes him eligible for Academic All-America recognition. A first and second team was selected by vote of Sports Information Directors throughout District I, which covers New England, New York and southeastern Canada.
The tri-captain is currently Amherst's third leading scorer, averaging 13.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Pavelski posted a season-high 26 points against NESCAC rival Bowdoin to punctuate his return from a severely sprained ankle that hampered the forward midway through the season. Currently boasting 1,359 points in his career, Pavelski is sixth on Amherst's all-time scoring list. He is also second on the career 3-point field goal record with 184, 14 away from re-setting the college best. Pavelski already holds the freshman scoring record (363 points, 1994-95) and was an All-NESCAC and All-ECAC forward in last year's NCAA season.
The History major has compiled a 3.67 grade point average at Amherst. Pavelski is currently writing a senior honors thesis on the transition from Communism to capitalism in the Soviet Union and China and its effects on U.S. foreign policy. He volunteered his time last summer as a softball coach for the Special Olympics, and Pavelski served on the First-Year Committee to examine students' experiences in their first-year at Amherst.
Amherst men's basketball completed its regular season with a 19-4 record to earn a No. 1 seed in the ECAC Division III New England Championship. The Jeffs will host eighth-seeded Emerson (20-5) on Wednesday, March 4 at 7:00pm in LeFrak Gymnasium. This is the third time in four years that Amherst has been selected to the ECAC Tournament, and the Jeffs claimed a pair of titles in 1995 and 1996. Amherst earned its second bid to the NCAA Tournament in 1997 before finishing with a 21-5 mark.
1997-98 GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-America District I Men's Basketball Team
College Division
First Team Name School Pos. Yr. Hometown GPA/Major T.J. Butler Franklin Pierce F Sr. Rochester, NH 3.31/Accounting, Financial Management Joe Donroe Tufts F Sr. Hamden, CT 3.40/Biology Benjamin Otis Springfield F Sr. Aurora, NY 3.80/Physical Therapy John Pavelski Amherst F Sr. Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ 3.67/History Zach Wein Nazareth G Sr. Canton, NY 3.24/Psychology Second Team Chris Busch Clarkson G Sr. Macedon, NY 3.73/Engineering & Mgmt Dave Cunningham Tufts G Sr. Easton, CT 3.30/Political Science Jeff Erker Rensselaer F Jr. Franklin Square, NY 3.71/Management & Technology John McVeigh Merrimack F Sr. North Andover, MA 3.67/Biology Brian Wilder Colby-Sawyer F Jr. Waltham, MA 3.22/Exercise & Sport Science # # # 3/2/98