2019-20 All-PacWest Men's Basketball Team
IRVINE, Calif. – In a season where two members of the Academy of Art men's basketball team have set program records, both have earned honors from the Pacific West Conference. Junior guard
Stefan Milivojevic has been named to the All-PacWest First Team while junior forward
Josh Hill has been selected to the All-PacWest Third Team. It is the first All-PacWest selection for each player in their careers, and the first time in ART U history that the Urban Knights have had two All-PacWest selections.
"It is great that the coaches in our conference recognized two ART U basketball players on All-PacWest teams," said ART U head coach
Scott Waterman. "This is the first time in our program's history it has happened. Even though we stress the team first, and not individual accolades, the performances of Stefan and Josh over the course of the season were significant in helping us make the PacWest tournament."
This season, Milivojevic has been named the PacWest Player of the Week twice, the first coming for the
week of Dec. 9-15, while the second was for the
week of Feb. 10-16. His scoring average of 17.4 points per game was
fourth in the conference and among one of the best in ART U history for a single season. This year, Milivojevic has set five ART U program records for
career scoring (890 points),
career 3-point field goals made (143),
single-season scoring (506 points),
single-season field goals made (176), and
single-season 3-point field goals (77). Twice in 2019-20 Milivojevic set his career high in points, the second time coming on
Feb. 13 against Holy Names in which
he scored 32 points on 13-for-16 (81.3 percent) shooting. He also ended the year
at 13th in the nation for 3-point percentage with a 46.1 percent mark from downtown, and led the PacWest in free throw percentage at 87.5 percent.
"Stefan proved to be one of the most dynamic scorers in the conference as reflected by his points per game and shooting percentage, as well as as one of the top 3-point shooters by percentage in the nation," Waterman said.
Hill put together a strong season down the stretch, finishing the year with a
total of 11 double-doubles, including a stretch of five in a row. At one point during the season, Hill was tied for 22nd in the nation in the category. With a total of 231 rebounds, Hill has set the
ART U program record for rebounds in a single season, along with
defensive rebounds in a single season (141). Hill reached 15 points nine times and reached 20 points three times, finishing with an average of 11.2 points per game and 8.0 rebounds per game, with the rebounding mark good enough for second in the PacWest. His career high in points came on
Feb. 15 against UH Hilo when he
dropped 21 points for 8-for-11 (72.3 percent) shooting. He also reached double-digit rebounds 12 times in 2019-20, with his
season high of 17 coming
against No. 6 Azusa Pacific on Feb. 20.
"Josh made huge strides on both ends of the floor and anchored our defense with his dominance on the boards," Waterman said. "His ability to score around the basket and unselfishness passing out of the post were critical in our team's ability to score."
Both players will continue their season on Thursday during the first round of the PacWest Conference Championship, as the Urban Knights will take on Chaminade in round one at 5:30 p.m.
