DEARBORN, Mich. - The University of Michigan-Dearborn men's basketball team recently closed the most successful season in school history, winning 20 games for the first time. The Wolverines continued to pile up the individual awards with a pair of outstanding student-athletes earning national recognition Thursday.
Senior forward Marcus Williams (SR/Lagos, Nigeria) and junior forward Jason Penn (JR/Detroit, MI) were each named NAIA Men's Basketball Division II All-American Honorable Mentions for the first time in their careers, it was announced by the NAIA on Thursday.
Williams led the Wolverines with 16.5 points per game, scoring 528 in his final season. He added a team-high 79 made 3-pointers, while grabbing 6.4 rebounds per game and starting in all 32 contests for UM-Dearborn. Earlier in the season, Williams set a program and Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference record with seven blocked shots in a game against Concordia. Williams was also named to the All-WHAC First Team.
Penn's latest award comes in a season that saw him cross the 1,000-career point mark. He averaged a career-high 15 points per game and team-high 7.3 rebounds, while also blocking a team-best 50 shots. Penn had the highest shooting percentage, 60.6 percent, of any regular UM-Dearborn starter as he was a force on both ends of the court. Penn was also named to the All- WHAC First Team and the WHAC All-Defensive Team.
The Wolverines finished the season 20-12 overall and made it to the WHAC Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2009.
