BEAVERTON, Ore. – Record-setting West Liberty University Sr. Corey Pelle has been selected as a first-team NCAA Division II All-American on the 20th annual Division II Bulletin All-America Team.
The Division II Bulletin celebrated its 20th anniversary as a chronicler of the nation’s NCAA Division II basketball scene this winter. The publication has selected an NCAA Division II All-America Team each year since its inaugural 1991-92 team.
The Division II Bulletin All-America selection is merely the latest in a growing list of impressive post-season honors for the Hilltoppers’ 5-11 sparkplug.
The Silver Grove, Ky. native also earned first-team All-America honors from Daktronics and was a third-team All-America choice by Basketball Times. The West Virginia Conference and NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Player of the Year, Pelle was a first-team All-District selection by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). He was voted Most Valuable Player in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region tournament before earning a spot on the All-Tournament Team at the Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass.
A dazzling playmaker who ranked among the top 10 nationally in steals and assists while leading the No. 1-ranked team in the country on a 33-game winning streak that carried the Hilltoppers all the way to the national semifinals, Pelle was at his best on the national stage.
He averaged 26.5 points and 8.0 assists in his two Elite Eight games to cap a remarkable career as the only NCAA men’s basketball player – all divisions – to surpass 200 assists and 100 steals during the 2010-11 season.
Pelle was the catalyst for a relentless West Liberty attack which posted one of the top five single-season scoring averages in NCAA Division II history (111.3 ppg.) and outscored its opponents by an average of nearly 30 points a game.
The team’s leading scorer at 17.3 ppg., Pelle broke his own school single-season record with 102 steals and tied a 21-year-old school record with 211 assists. He is West Liberty’s all-time leader in both steals and assists and stands fifth on the school’s career scoring list with 1,953 points.
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