Wingate’s Sean Barnette, Anna Atkinson Named SAC Athletes Of The Year

ROCK HILL, S.C. - A pair of record-setting basketball players from Wingate University have been named the 2007-08 South Atlantic Conference Male and Female Athletes of the Year following a vote of the league's Directors of Athletics, the conference office announced today.

Men's basketball player Sean Barnette, the SAC's all-time leading scorer, was named the SAC Male Athlete of the Year, winning the award for the second year in a row. Women's basketball player Anna Atkinson, who set a conference record for steals in a season, was named the Female Athlete of the Year.

The SAC Male and Female Athlete of the Year awards are given annually to one male and one female student-athlete based on athletic performance in one or more sports, and the impact of that performance on the SAC and NCAA Division II.

Barnette, a senior guard/forward from Rock Hill, S.C. (Northwestern High School) was the 2008 SAC men's basketball Player of the Year after leading the conference in scoring at 21.2 points per game and rebounding at 9.8 per game. He finished his career as the all-time leading scorer in SAC and Wingate history with 2,324 points.

Sean Barnette

Barnette was a first team Daktronics NCAA Division II All-American in 2008 after earning third team honors in 2007. He was named to the Daktronics All-South Atlantic Region first team and was selected the 2008 South Atlantic Region Co-Player of the Year by Daktronics. Also, the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) picked Barnette for their All-South Atlantic Region first team.

He is the only male player in SAC history to score 2,000+ points and was named the conference Player of the Year for the past two years. Barnette and his teammates compiled a 24-7 overall record in 2007-08, sharing the SAC regular season title with Lenoir-Rhyne College.

During his senior campaign, Barnette led the Bulldogs and the SAC with 21.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. On the NCAA charts, he was seventh in points per game and 17th in rebounds per game. The 2007 South Atlantic Conference Male Athlete of the Year, Barnette averaged a double-double (21.2 points and 10.5 rebounds per game) in conference games this year.

Barnette has 35 career double-doubles, including 18 this season. He scored in double figures in 70 consecutive games to finish his career. In 2007, Barnette was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III men's basketball first team (college division).

The Bulldog men's basketball team made the best run in SAC men's basketball history in 2006-07. Wingate (25-9 overall, 11-5 SAC in 2006-07) won the Food Lion SAC Tournament for the second consecutive season in 2007. The Bulldogs took the 2007 South Atlantic Regional title on their way to becoming the first SAC men's basketball team to participate in an NCAA Division II Elite Eight event.

He is the first SAC male athlete to win the Athlete of the Year award twice. Three women have previously won the award twice (Rebecca Angus, Rachel Sloan and Heather Randolph).

"Sean is a great leader and a great ambassador for the Wingate University basketball program. He is an exceptional student-athlete," former Wingate head men's basketball coach Parker Laketa says. "This recognition is a great capstone to an outstanding career."

"Sean will have an opportunity to play at the next level. We had several NBA scouts attend practice or games this season. They (the scouts) believe he has the tools to play professional basketball. I hope Sean gets his opportunity to play professional basketball. There is no doubt he has earned the chance (to play professional basketball) through his hard work and determination."

Atkinson, a junior from Marion, N.C. (McDowell High School), becomes only the third person in conference history to win both of the league's prestigious post-season awards. Earlier this month, she received the SAC Presidents Award, presented to the top student-athlete. She joins former Presbyterian women's soccer player Elizabeth Roe (1997) and former Elon men's tennis player Peter Lindstrom (1993) to receive both awards.

Anna Atkinson

Atkinson was named to the 2007-08 Daktronics NCAA Division II women's basketball All-American third team.

The 2008 South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete Award winner, Atkinson led the Bulldogs with 14.8 points per game and 8.4 assists per game. On the national scene, Atkinson was second in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.27), third in assists and fifth in steals (3.7 steals per game). She was named the MVP of both the Food Lion SAC tournament and the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional tournament this year.

In the SAC history books, Atkinson's 278 assists this season are the second highest single-season total in league history. She is currently fourth on the league's all-time assist chart with 587. Her 121 steals this year established a new SAC single season record. Her 44.2 percent shooting from beyond the arc this season is the seventh-highest in SAC history. For her career, Atkinson is shooting 35.8 percent from three-point range, which ranks eighth in conference history.

A three-time All-SAC performer, Atkinson tallied her 1000th career point in Wingate's 66-65 regional semi-final victory over Augusta State University.

In February, Atkinson was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® women's basketball first team (college division). The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) select the Academic All-America® teams each year.

Atkinson is one of only three NCAA Division II student-athletes to earn All-America honors on the court and in the classroom during the 2007-08 season.

"Anna Atkinson is a special person. Her contributions to our team during the most recent season cannot be measured," Wingate head basketball coach Barbara Nelson says. "Anna is also a great leader both on and off the court."

The South Atlantic Conference currently has nine member institutions: Brevard College, Brevard, N.C.; Carson-Newman College, Jefferson City, Tenn.; Catawba College, Salisbury, N.C.; Lenoir-Rhyne College, Hickory, N.C.; Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, TN; Mars Hill College, Mars Hill, N.C.; Newberry College, Newberry, S.C.; Tusculum College, Greeneville, Tenn.; and Wingate University, Wingate, N.C.