Wooster senior forward Nick Everett (Salem, OH/West Branch) has been named the Player of the Year and Fighting Scot junior guard Jamir Billings (Lorain, OH/Lorain) has been selected the league’s Top Defensive Player to highlight the 2024 All-North Coast Athletic Conference men’s basketball squad, as selected by the league’s head coaches. This is the first time that the Player of the Year and Top Defensive Player awards were won by the same school.
Everett claims Wooster’s 11th NCAC Player of the Year award, the program’s first since Danyon Hempy was selected in 2019-20. The senior earned his second-consecutive All-NCAC certificate after earning third-team honors last winter and elevating to the top team this season. Everett was the NCAC’s most efficient shooter against league opponents, making 78-of-104 field goal attempts for an NCAC-best .750 shooting percentage. In 352 minutes of conference action, the senior netted 216 points to average 13.5 per game. Against NCAC opponents, the forward ranked in the top 10 in scoring, free-throws made (60) and offensive rebounds (29). He scored in double figures in 12 of the 16 conference games, while producing a season-high 20 against Wittenberg on Feb.10. Everett gathered three or more rebounds and shot .500 or better in 13 of the 16 league matchups, which included two 7-for-7 performances from the floor against Denison on Jan. 20 and DePauw on Jan. 27. Everett set the Wooster program record with 24 consecutive field-goal makes spanning Jan. 17-Feb. 3 and came up two shy of Anna Maria College’s Mike Rapoza‘s NCAA Div. III record of 26 consecutive makes. His efficient .728 shooting from the floor (134-of-184) breaks the NCAC single-season record in field goal percentage, which was set in 2004-05 by Wooster’s Matt Schlingman (.696; 128-of-184).
Billings is the first two-time winner of the NCAC Top Defensive Player award after collecting the honor along with Newcomer of the Year in 2021-22. The junior is a three-time all-NCAC selection, collecting second-team honors this season, first-team accolades last season and honorable-mention laurels in 2021-22. Billings anchored a Wooster defensive unit that limited NCAC opponents to 67.8 points per game and a .438 shooting percentage. In 16 conference games, the guard led the league in steals with 54 (3.4 spg), recording at least three in 10 NCAC matchups which included a season-high seven against Hiram on Feb. 14. He also collected 82 rebounds (5.1 rpg), 73 of which came from the defensive end and made five blocks. Billings also produced on offense for the Fighting Scots, averaging 8.3 points per game and dishing a league-high 85 assists in conference play. So far in his career, he has passed out 468 assists for the most all-time at Wooster.