CLEVELAND, Ohio --- Tusculum University men's basketball guard Trenton Gibson has been named the 2020-21 Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) Southeast Region Scholar Athlete of the Year.
This award recognizes the top student-athlete for all sports in the NCAA II Southeast Region which is comprised of colleges and universities in the South Atlantic Conference, Peach Belt Conference and Conference Carolinas.
Gibson was also one of the eight male national finalists for the D2CCA National Scholar Athlete of the Year which was awarded Dalton Bolon (West Liberty).
Gibson, a native of Murfreesboro, Tennessee and team captain on the TU men's basketball team, graduated from Tusculum in May with summa cum laude honors and a 3.95 cumulative grade point average while majoring in sport management. He swept the SAC Player of the Year and the SAC Scholar Athlete of the Year Award, becoming the first men's basketball in league history to achieve the sweep.
Gibson and Tusculum women's tennis player Annie McCullough, were named this year's recipients of the SAC Presidents Award, which is the highest bestowed to a league student-athlete.
He was named to the NCAA Division II Academic All-America® first team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), becoming the first player in program history to garner Academic All-America® distinction.
He led the Pioneers in scoring, rebounding and assists as Tusculum posted a 14-6 record and finished the year as NCAA II Southeast Region semifinalists. TU finished third in the South Atlantic Conference standings and advanced to the semifinal round of the SAC Tournament for a second straight year.
Gibson garnered postseason honors by earning spots on the SAC All-Tournament Team and the NCAA Southeast Regional All-Tournament squad. He also became only the third Pioneer to garner NABC All-District accolades.
Gibson averaged 18.8 points per game which was third in the league, while his 8.2 rebounds per game average was also third-best in the conference. He dished out 5.0 assists per contest (3rd in SAC / 36th in NCAA II) making him the only player in the SAC to be ranked in the league's top-five in scoring, rebounds and assists. He also topped the conference in minutes played per game averaging 35.6 minutes per outing (49th in NCAA II).
The two-time All-SAC selection scored in double figures in 19 of his 20 games including nine outings with 20 or more points. Gibson, who was named the 2018 SAC Freshman of the Year, became the 29th member of Tusculum's 1,000-Point Club. His 1,190 career points are the 20th most in the 110-year history of TU's men's basketball program. He is also the only player in school history with over 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists in a career.
Gibson has shined in the classroom where he was the 2020 recipient of the South Atlantic Conference Elite 20 Award for men's basketball and was selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District first team in the same season. He is a member of the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll, Tusculum President's List, Dean's List and Charles Oliver Gray Honors List. He is a two-time Division II Athletic Directors Association Honor Roll selection and is a member of the Alpha Chi Honor Society.
In addition to his success on the basketball court and in the classroom, Gibson has been an active member of the community. He volunteers at the Nettie Day of Service, is a member of the Pioneer Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, and is a Pioneer Peer serving as a mentor for incoming freshmen. He volunteers as a youth basketball coach with the Above the Rim program and served as a sports management intern within the Tusculum Athletic department last spring.
