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Betty Named Player of the Year
Sam Betty, a senior forward on the Occidental basketball team, has been named the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s David Wells Player of the Year. He also was named to the men’s All-West Region Team by D3hoops.com.
The 6-foot, 7-inch Betty, a religious studies major from Bakersfield, ranked fourth in SCIAC with 18.6 points per game and second in conference with 7.2 rebounds per game. Betty poured in a season-high 31 points against Division II Cal State Stanislaus on Nov. 25, and scored 22 points with nine rebounds against Utah State on Nov. 6. Betty led the Tigers in scoring 10 times and finished his Occidental career with 1,355 career points, third on the all-time list.
Accolades aren’t new for Betty. As a junior, the Stockdale High graduate was a First Team All-SCIAC selection, a year in which he led the team in scoring 12 times – averaging 19.7 points a game – and set a school record for points in a game (49) against Redlands. Betty’s breakout season came as a sophomore, when he averaged 13.2 points per game and was a Second Team All-SCIAC pick.
Other 2006-07 Occidental honorees include junior guard Connor Whitman of Los Angeles (First Team All-SCIAC) and senior forward Nick Mills of Seattle (Second Team All-SCIAC). Whitman led the team in three-pointers with 97 and was fourth in Division III in three-point field goal percentage (49.7 percent), while Mills averaged 7.7 points and 6.4 rebounds. The Tigers finished the season 19-6 after losing 68-51 to Mississippi College in an NCAA Division III Championship first round game on March 2.
On the women’s side, junior guard Stacie Roshon of Saratoga, Calif., was named First Team All-SCIAC, and frosh guard Dior Williams of Indianapolis took Second Team All-SCIAC honors. Roshon, the conference Preseason Player of the Year, was ranked No. 16 in the nation for three-point field goals (2.8 per game). Against Cal Lutheran on Jan. 20, Roshon scored a season-best 23 points. She also won first-team honors as a sophomore. Dior averaged 12.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. She had her best game Feb. 15 against Cal Lutheran, when she tallied 28 points.
The Tigers finished the season 16-9 (9-5 SCIAC) to post their best record since 1979-80.