University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Photo by: Adrian Etheridge
Another Banner Year - Bulldogs Put Together a Special 2017-18 Season
03.20.2018 | Men's Basketball
Notes
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The 2017-18 UNC Asheville men's basketball season was a historic year once again for the Bulldogs.
The season featured a second straight regular-season Big South Conference championship for the Bulldogs and UNC Asheville's third straight postseason appearance with the Bulldogs playing in the 2018 National Invitation Tournament.
BULLDOG BITES
A FOND FAREWELL TO A SPECIAL SENIOR CLASS: With 81 wins in their career, the UNC Asheville senior class of Alec Wnuk, Kevin Vannatta, Raekwon Miller and Ahmad Thomas had the most wins over a four-year stretch in program history. The Bulldog senior class had three championships with the 2016-17 and 2017-18 Big South regular-season titles and the 2016 Big South Tournament title. The Bulldogs also played in the 2016 NCAA Tournament, the 2017 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament and the 2018 National Invitation Tournament.
ELITE - ONLY IN BIG SOUTH HISTORY: Ahmad Thomas ended his career as the only player in Big South men's basketball history with over 1,500 points (1,626), 700 rebounds (705), 250 steals (251) and 250 assists (256).
STORIED CAREER: Kevin Vannatta of UNC Asheville men's basketball ended his prolific career with the most minutes played in program history (4,165) and tied for the most games played in program history (130). The Academic All-American finished his career with 1,243 points, 574 rebounds and 378 assists.
ALL-TIME LEADER IN STEALS: UNC Asheville senior guard Ahmad Thomas with his four steals in the narrow NIT loss to Southern California officially became the all-time steals leader in program history. Thomas concludes his prolific Bulldog career with 251 steals. Thomas passed Bulldog great J.P. Primm for the top spot in the category in program history. Primm (2008-12) closed his career with 248 steals.
POSTSEASON PLAY: UNC Asheville made its second appearance in the NIT this year. The Bulldogs last appeared in the postseason event in 2008. Overall, this year's NIT appearance was UNC Asheville's seventh in a postseason tournament. The Bulldogs have advanced to the NCAA Tournament four times before (2003, 2011, 2012 and 2016), the NIT (2008 and 2018) twice and the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament once (2017).
BIG SOUTH TITLE NO. 7: UNC Asheville men's basketball picked up its seventh Big South Conference regular-season title (1996-97, 1997-98, 2001-02, 2007-08, 2011-12, 2016-17 and 2017-18) this season. Asheville head coach Nick McDevitt has been a part of six of the seven Big South Conference regular-season crowns either as a player, assistant coach or head coach (1997-98, 2001-02, 2007-08, 2011-12, 2016-17 and 2017-18).
BULLDOGS EXTEND SPECIAL LEAGUE STREAK: UNC Asheville with its road win over Longwood extended its own Big South Conference record by winning its 10th league game of the year. The Bulldogs, who had 13 league wins, have now won 10 or more league games in a season in a Big South Conference men's basketball record 11 straight seasons.
CONTINUING TO SET THE STANDARD: UNC Asheville men's basketball has now won at least 15 games in a season for a league-record 11 consecutive seasons. UNC Asheville's 11th straight 15 or more win season allowed the Bulldogs to pass the old mark of 10 it shared with Winthrop (1998-08). UNC Asheville has won 15 or more games every year since the 2007-08 season.
ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN: UNC Asheville men's basketball senior standout Kevin Vannatta was selected to the 2017-18 Academic All-America® NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Vannatta was a third-team Academic All-America® selection. Vannatta was also named to the 2016-17 and 2017-18 College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District® 3 Men's Basketball first-team in addition to being tabbed as a DI-AAA ADA Scholar-Athlete last season. He was also an official candidate for the 2017-18 Senior CLASS Award.
NABC ALL-DISTRICT ONCE AGAIN: For the second consecutive season both Ahmad Thomas and MaCio Teague of UNC Asheville men's basketball were named to the NCAA Division I NABC All-District 3 Team. A senior guard, Thomas was chosen to the first-team, while Teague, a sophomore guard, was a second-team selection.
RECORD THIRD-STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASON: UNC Asheville men's basketball for the first time in program history has now won 20 or more games for three straight seasons. UNC Asheville won 22 games in the 2015-16 season, 23 in 2016-17 and 21 in the 2017-18 season.
SENSATIONAL SOPHOMORE YEAR CONCLUDES: The 2016-17 Big South Conference Freshman of the Year last year, MaCio Teague's 23 points in the home win over Winthrop on Feb. 22 allowed him to surpass 1,000 points in just his sophomore season. Teague's 26 points in the narrow loss to Southern California allowed him to finish his sophomore campaign with 1,078 career points. He was just the fourth and is now one of only five in Big South history to score 1,000 or more by their sophomore season.
WHAT A PAIR: UNC Asheville senior duo Ahmad Thomas and Kevin Vannatta are the only pair ever of four-year Big South classmates each with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 assists during the same four-year span. The duo is the fourth four-year teammates with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds, and on the scoring side, they are the 24th pair of 1,000-point scoring four-year teammates. Thomas with 1,626 career points and Vannatta with 1,243 career points right now have a combined total of 2,869, which places them in the top-10 in the category in league history. Thomas and Vannatta are the fifth set of Bulldog teammates with the achievement in Asheville's Big South era.
THOMAS MAKES HISTORY: Ahmad Thomas was already just the fifth player in Big South Conference men's basketball history with over 1,000 points, 600 rebounds and 200 steals, but he is also just the second player in league history with over 1,000 points, 600 rebounds, 200 steals and 200 assists. Thomas became the second in league history in the win over Longwood on Jan. 9. Thomas closed out the Bulldog conference win with 1,329 points, 611 rebounds, 222 steals and 203 assists. Thomas ended his career with 1,626 points, 705 rebounds, 256 assists and 251 steals. Thomas also became one of the top-10 scorers in UNC Asheville history with his 23 points in the win over High Point on Jan. 27. He moved into the top-10 in school history in rebounds in the win over Longwood on Jan. 9. He ended his career first in all-time steals.
ELITE GROUP: UNC Asheville men's basketball head coach Nick McDevitt with the Bulldog road win over Campbell on Feb. 1 joined former Winthrop head coach and current Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall as the only coaches to win at least 15 games in their first five seasons in the Big South Conference. McDevitt joins Marshall and Coastal Carolina head coach Cliff Ellis as the only coaches with three straight 20-win seasons.
BAEHRE ATTACK: UNC Asheville sophomore Jonathan Baehre had a career day in the narrow loss to Southern California with a career-best 28 points and 14 rebounds. It was his third double-double this season. Baehre also had a career-high tying five blocks to end the season with six games with over four or more blocks in a game.
RAEKWON THE CHEF KEEPS DISHING: Raekwon Miller's career-high nine assists in the Big South Tournament quarterfinal win over Charleston Southern tied UNC Asheville's Big South Tournament program record last set in UNC Asheville's Big South Tournament championship-clinching 93-78 win by Maurice Caldwell on March 4, 1989.
FLIRTING WITH HISTORY ONCE AGAIN: Raekwon Miller became the second Bulldog this season to nearly capture a triple-double with his 12 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in the quarterfinal win over Charleston Southern. Ahmad Thomas nearly had one himself with 24 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists in UNC Asheville's win over Presbyterian College on Feb. 3.
NEARING 100: UNC Asheville head coach Nick McDevitt needs two more wins to reach 100 for his career.
HOME SWEET HOME: UNC Asheville is now 82-18 overall and 57-12 against Big South foes within the friendly confines of Kimmel Arena inside the Sherrill Center. The Bulldogs finished the 2017-18 regular season at Kimmel Arena 13-1. UNC Asheville is 26-2 over the last two seasons during the regular season at Kimmel Arena. The Bulldogs have won 23 of their last 25 at Kimmel Arena overall.
To learn much more, please see the full notes HERE.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The 2017-18 UNC Asheville men's basketball season was a historic year once again for the Bulldogs.
The season featured a second straight regular-season Big South Conference championship for the Bulldogs and UNC Asheville's third straight postseason appearance with the Bulldogs playing in the 2018 National Invitation Tournament.
BULLDOG BITES
A FOND FAREWELL TO A SPECIAL SENIOR CLASS: With 81 wins in their career, the UNC Asheville senior class of Alec Wnuk, Kevin Vannatta, Raekwon Miller and Ahmad Thomas had the most wins over a four-year stretch in program history. The Bulldog senior class had three championships with the 2016-17 and 2017-18 Big South regular-season titles and the 2016 Big South Tournament title. The Bulldogs also played in the 2016 NCAA Tournament, the 2017 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament and the 2018 National Invitation Tournament.
ELITE - ONLY IN BIG SOUTH HISTORY: Ahmad Thomas ended his career as the only player in Big South men's basketball history with over 1,500 points (1,626), 700 rebounds (705), 250 steals (251) and 250 assists (256).
STORIED CAREER: Kevin Vannatta of UNC Asheville men's basketball ended his prolific career with the most minutes played in program history (4,165) and tied for the most games played in program history (130). The Academic All-American finished his career with 1,243 points, 574 rebounds and 378 assists.
ALL-TIME LEADER IN STEALS: UNC Asheville senior guard Ahmad Thomas with his four steals in the narrow NIT loss to Southern California officially became the all-time steals leader in program history. Thomas concludes his prolific Bulldog career with 251 steals. Thomas passed Bulldog great J.P. Primm for the top spot in the category in program history. Primm (2008-12) closed his career with 248 steals.
POSTSEASON PLAY: UNC Asheville made its second appearance in the NIT this year. The Bulldogs last appeared in the postseason event in 2008. Overall, this year's NIT appearance was UNC Asheville's seventh in a postseason tournament. The Bulldogs have advanced to the NCAA Tournament four times before (2003, 2011, 2012 and 2016), the NIT (2008 and 2018) twice and the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament once (2017).
BIG SOUTH TITLE NO. 7: UNC Asheville men's basketball picked up its seventh Big South Conference regular-season title (1996-97, 1997-98, 2001-02, 2007-08, 2011-12, 2016-17 and 2017-18) this season. Asheville head coach Nick McDevitt has been a part of six of the seven Big South Conference regular-season crowns either as a player, assistant coach or head coach (1997-98, 2001-02, 2007-08, 2011-12, 2016-17 and 2017-18).
BULLDOGS EXTEND SPECIAL LEAGUE STREAK: UNC Asheville with its road win over Longwood extended its own Big South Conference record by winning its 10th league game of the year. The Bulldogs, who had 13 league wins, have now won 10 or more league games in a season in a Big South Conference men's basketball record 11 straight seasons.
CONTINUING TO SET THE STANDARD: UNC Asheville men's basketball has now won at least 15 games in a season for a league-record 11 consecutive seasons. UNC Asheville's 11th straight 15 or more win season allowed the Bulldogs to pass the old mark of 10 it shared with Winthrop (1998-08). UNC Asheville has won 15 or more games every year since the 2007-08 season.
ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN: UNC Asheville men's basketball senior standout Kevin Vannatta was selected to the 2017-18 Academic All-America® NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Vannatta was a third-team Academic All-America® selection. Vannatta was also named to the 2016-17 and 2017-18 College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District® 3 Men's Basketball first-team in addition to being tabbed as a DI-AAA ADA Scholar-Athlete last season. He was also an official candidate for the 2017-18 Senior CLASS Award.
NABC ALL-DISTRICT ONCE AGAIN: For the second consecutive season both Ahmad Thomas and MaCio Teague of UNC Asheville men's basketball were named to the NCAA Division I NABC All-District 3 Team. A senior guard, Thomas was chosen to the first-team, while Teague, a sophomore guard, was a second-team selection.
RECORD THIRD-STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASON: UNC Asheville men's basketball for the first time in program history has now won 20 or more games for three straight seasons. UNC Asheville won 22 games in the 2015-16 season, 23 in 2016-17 and 21 in the 2017-18 season.
SENSATIONAL SOPHOMORE YEAR CONCLUDES: The 2016-17 Big South Conference Freshman of the Year last year, MaCio Teague's 23 points in the home win over Winthrop on Feb. 22 allowed him to surpass 1,000 points in just his sophomore season. Teague's 26 points in the narrow loss to Southern California allowed him to finish his sophomore campaign with 1,078 career points. He was just the fourth and is now one of only five in Big South history to score 1,000 or more by their sophomore season.
WHAT A PAIR: UNC Asheville senior duo Ahmad Thomas and Kevin Vannatta are the only pair ever of four-year Big South classmates each with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 assists during the same four-year span. The duo is the fourth four-year teammates with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds, and on the scoring side, they are the 24th pair of 1,000-point scoring four-year teammates. Thomas with 1,626 career points and Vannatta with 1,243 career points right now have a combined total of 2,869, which places them in the top-10 in the category in league history. Thomas and Vannatta are the fifth set of Bulldog teammates with the achievement in Asheville's Big South era.
THOMAS MAKES HISTORY: Ahmad Thomas was already just the fifth player in Big South Conference men's basketball history with over 1,000 points, 600 rebounds and 200 steals, but he is also just the second player in league history with over 1,000 points, 600 rebounds, 200 steals and 200 assists. Thomas became the second in league history in the win over Longwood on Jan. 9. Thomas closed out the Bulldog conference win with 1,329 points, 611 rebounds, 222 steals and 203 assists. Thomas ended his career with 1,626 points, 705 rebounds, 256 assists and 251 steals. Thomas also became one of the top-10 scorers in UNC Asheville history with his 23 points in the win over High Point on Jan. 27. He moved into the top-10 in school history in rebounds in the win over Longwood on Jan. 9. He ended his career first in all-time steals.
ELITE GROUP: UNC Asheville men's basketball head coach Nick McDevitt with the Bulldog road win over Campbell on Feb. 1 joined former Winthrop head coach and current Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall as the only coaches to win at least 15 games in their first five seasons in the Big South Conference. McDevitt joins Marshall and Coastal Carolina head coach Cliff Ellis as the only coaches with three straight 20-win seasons.
BAEHRE ATTACK: UNC Asheville sophomore Jonathan Baehre had a career day in the narrow loss to Southern California with a career-best 28 points and 14 rebounds. It was his third double-double this season. Baehre also had a career-high tying five blocks to end the season with six games with over four or more blocks in a game.
RAEKWON THE CHEF KEEPS DISHING: Raekwon Miller's career-high nine assists in the Big South Tournament quarterfinal win over Charleston Southern tied UNC Asheville's Big South Tournament program record last set in UNC Asheville's Big South Tournament championship-clinching 93-78 win by Maurice Caldwell on March 4, 1989.
FLIRTING WITH HISTORY ONCE AGAIN: Raekwon Miller became the second Bulldog this season to nearly capture a triple-double with his 12 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in the quarterfinal win over Charleston Southern. Ahmad Thomas nearly had one himself with 24 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists in UNC Asheville's win over Presbyterian College on Feb. 3.
NEARING 100: UNC Asheville head coach Nick McDevitt needs two more wins to reach 100 for his career.
HOME SWEET HOME: UNC Asheville is now 82-18 overall and 57-12 against Big South foes within the friendly confines of Kimmel Arena inside the Sherrill Center. The Bulldogs finished the 2017-18 regular season at Kimmel Arena 13-1. UNC Asheville is 26-2 over the last two seasons during the regular season at Kimmel Arena. The Bulldogs have won 23 of their last 25 at Kimmel Arena overall.
To learn much more, please see the full notes HERE.
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