April 1, 2008
From Navy Athletic Communications
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Navy senior men's basketball player Greg Sprink capped off a stellar career on Monday evening by being named to the Associated Press All-America honorable mention squad. Sprink is Navy's first All-American in basketball since David Robinson earned Player of the Year honors in 1987, and just the second Navy player to be named an AP All-American since the organization started handing out All-American awards in 1947.
Sprink also became the sixth Patriot League player in the last seven seasons to earn Honorable Mention status on the AP All-American team. Holy Cross' Keith Simmons was named to the squad last year.
Sprink, a 6-5, 220-pound senior guard from Cardiff by the Sea, Calif., was the Patriot League's leading scorer with a 21.8 ppg average in all games played and a 23.5 ppg average in the 14 league games. He became the first Patriot League player to average 20.0 ppg in a season since 1998 and the first Navy player to do so since Erik Harris (20.0 ppg) in 1991. In addition, Sprink was second in rebounding (6.3 rpg), second in free throw percentage (.858) and eighth in assists (2.9 apg) in the Patriot League. He finished fourth on the Navy single-season scoring chart (653 points) behind just David Robinson (1985, 1986 and 1987), and made 199 free throws this year, ranking third on the Navy single-season chart in that category. Sprink made a habit of posting big games during the year, with four double-doubles and five 30-point performances, including a pair against regular-season champion American. He scored 36 points in Navy's 77-66 win over the Eagles on Jan. 30, then tallied 34 points with seven assists in a 83-68 win over American on Feb. 27. He scored a career-high 37 points in the Mids' Patriot League Tournament loss to Bucknell, setting the school record for most points in a Patriot League Tournament game. He scored in double-figures in 28-of-30 games this year, and had 17 20-point games.
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He currently ranks 15th in the country in scoring heading into this weekend's Final Four, and ranks seventh nationally in free throws made (199). Lastly, he is 35th nationally in free throw percentage at 85.8 percent.
Sprink finished his career fifth in Patriot League history in scoring (1,785 points) and is Navy's all-time leader in three-point field goals (237). From behind the arc, he posted three of the top seven single-season three-pointers made totals for the Mids, including a career-high 76 this past year to rank second on the list. An outstanding free throw shooter, Sprink had a career percentage of .843, good for fourth place on the Patriot League career list. He also ranks 10th in Navy history in career assists (254) and 11th in career rebounds (592). Sprink is one of three Patriot League players to score 1,500 points, grab 500 rebounds and dish out 200 assists in a career.
Sprink led the Mids to a 16-14 record this past winter and a second-place finish in the Patriot League regular-season standings with a 9-5 mark. The Mids were picked seventh in the Patriot League preseason poll. For his efforts, he was named the Patriot League Player of the Year, Navy's first in school history, and a first-team All-Patriot League selection, one year after being named to the second team. He led the league in scoring in each of the last two years.
The first team consisted of Kansas State's Michael Beasley (Fr.), North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough (Jr.), Texas' D.J. Augustin (So.), UCLA's Kevin Love (Fr.) and Memphis' Chris Douglas-Roberts (Jr.).
Sprink was one of 47 players nationally named to the honorable mention squad, with just 22 of the 62 players on all the teams coming from "mid-major" schools.
