University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Zilli Named Big South Scholar Athlete of the Year for Men's Basketball
03.02.2015 | Men's Basketball
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Three UNC Asheville men's basketball players were honored by the Big South Conference on Monday when the league announced its award-winners for the 2014-15 season.
Sophomore guard Andrew Rowsey earned second-team All-Conference honors, while guard Kevin Vannatta was named to the league's All-Freshman team. Sophomore center Giacomo Zilli was named Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year for his work in the classroom and on the court.
Zilli becomes the first men's basketball player to be ever be named Scholar-Athlete of the Year at Asheville. He carries a 3.95 GPA and is majoring in economics. Zilli has appeared in 22 contests this season, including 16 starts, and averaged 5.7 points and 4.3 rebounds while contributing 18 blocks. The Udine, Italy native has shot 56.5 percent from the field, and increased his averages to 7.1 points and 4.4 boards in Big South Conference games. He also recorded a 61.0 field goal percentage against League members along with 0.85 blocks. Zilli averaged 17.5 points and 9.5 rebounds during a two-game stretch from Feb. 6-9, and scored in double figures three times this season -- all Asheville wins.
Rowsey is Asheville's leading scorer with an 18.9 average. He is third nationally in free throw percentage at .928 and has made 40 of his last 41 free throws. The sophomore guard is third in the league in scoring and has fourth in three-pointers made (3.17). He enters the tournament on a roll after scoring a season-high 39 points vs. High Point and 27 at Liberty on Saturday. Rowsey is the only Bulldog to start and play in all 29 games this year. Earlier in the season, he became the first sophomore in school history to reach 1,000 career points in just 50 games.
Vannatta, a native of Columbus, Ohio, moved into the starting line-up when conference play started. He is Asheville's third leading scorer with a 7.7 average and is shooting .479 (67-of-140) from the field. Vannatta is third on the team in assists (67) and fourth in steals (28).
UNC Asheville begins play in the Big South Conference Championship this Wednesday night when the sixth-seeded Bulldogs take on the 11th-seeded Liberty Flames at 6 p.m. This year's tournament is being held at the HTC Center on the campus of Coastal Carolina.
