WALESKA, Ga. – On the eve of the conference tournament beginning, the AAC has announced its all-conference honors for the season, and it is littered with UPike Bears.
 
Among them:
 

• Bradley Bunch has repeated as Player of the Year
• Tigh Compton has repeated as Coach of the Year
• Zion Blevins has been named both Freshman and Defensive Player of the Year
• All five starters have been named all-conference
• Three players have been named to the All-Defensive Team
• Senior Keian Worrix is on the Champions of Character Team, and,
• A league-leading 12 players have been named to the All-Academic Team

 
Bunch is a 6-6 senior from Big Stone Gap, Va., who enters the tournament averaging 16.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game this season. His shooting percentages are off the charts as well: 49.9 percent from the floor, 39.1 percent from the arc and 81.8 percent from the free throw line.
 
Bunch has been named first-team all-conference in all three seasons the Bears have been in the AAC.
 
Compton has guided the Bears to a 25-3 record this season, going 18-1 in the conference to win the league by five games. From Nov. 12 through Jan. 14, the Bears won 16 consecutive games and will take an eight-game win streak into the conference tournament. They have now won 24 of their last 25 games.
 
Blevins is a 6-7 freshman from Chapmanville, W.Va., who is averaging 12.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. He is shooting 61.5 percent from the field and 85.1 percent from the free throw line.
 
He was named the league's top defender thanks to averaging 4.3 rebounds per game off the defensive glass while blocking a league-leading 41 shots and picking up 18 steals.
 
He was also named second-team all-conference.
 
Bunch was joined on the first team by seniors LA Walker and Keian Worrix, both of whom were second-team selections a year ago.
 
Walker is a 6-4 senior from Columbus, Ohio. He is averaging 13.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, shooting 49.4 percent from the field, 39.1 percent from the arc and 78.7 percent from the line and was second on the team with 31 steals.
 
Worrix is a 5-7 senior from Pikeville, who has averaged 9.6 points, 3.8 assists and 2.0 rebounds per game this season. He has shot 46.6 percent from the field, led the team at 43.2 percent on three-pointers and hit 83.7 percent from the line.
 
In addition to Blevins, Keynan Cutlip has been named second-team all-conference.
 
Cutlip is a 6-3 senior from Johnson City, Tenn. He is averaging 9.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. He will enter the postseason hitting 49.7 percent from the field, 40.8 percent from the arc and 72.4 percent from the stripe.
 
Bunch and Worrix joined Blevins on the All-Defensive Team.
 
Worrix is the Bears' selection to the Champions of Character Team. Those honored on the Champions of Character Team were nominated by their coaches based on their leadership on and off campus, as well as their demonstration of the five core character values of the NAIA.
 
To be nominated for the academic all-conference team, by an institution, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.25 on a 4.0 scale and be in their third term or fourth quarter.
 
The dozen Bears honored are Trenton Adkins, Aden Barnett, Blevins, Bunch, Peyton Byrd, Jace Copley, Cutlip, Evan Goodman, Tanner Hall, Spencer Howard, Eli Johnson, Nicholas Nelson and Worrix.