Barker, Baron guards earn GACC honors

By Terry Gaston

MOUNT VERNON -- Brewton-Parker College men's basketball coach Steve Barker and two Baron seniors were honored on behalf of the Barons with awards from the Georgia-Alabama-Carolina Conference.

Barker, whose team finished third in the GACC standings and spent four weeks leading the conference after the Barons were a preseason choice to finish fifth in the 10-team league, was named Coach of the Year.

Senior guard Gabe Bubon, a player who sat out two seasons before transferring to Brewton-Parker for his senior year, earned the GACC's first Newcomer of the Year award and was selected to the All-Conference team.

Also, senior guard Josh Stuart was named to the GACC's All-Academic Team for the third consecutive year.

Awards were presented at the GACC men's postseason tournament dinner in the Brewton-Parker cafeteria on March 12, and the tournament was in Brewton-Parker's new Student Activities Center from March 12-15.

Barker, who also earned the GACC coach award in 2000, reached the 300-win milestone for his 18-year career in November.

The Barons began the season 4-6 but won 16 of their next 20 games to hold the GACC lead outright or as a co-leader for four straight weeks. Brewton-Parker finished third in the conference standings with a 13-5 record and the season with a 20-13 overall record.

"My coaches always demanded a lot of me in high school and college," Barker said. "This award is a credit to our team, how they played and responded to what we asked of them, and this is a tribute to the hard work they have done. It means a lot because it was voted on by the coaches of our league."

Bubon, a 6-foot-3 native of Warren, Ohio, led the GACC during the regular season in 3-point field goals made with 100 and in shooting percentage (43.7 percent, with 229 attempts), pacing the Barons to the conference lead in 3-point percentage (39.5 percent, 246-for-623).

Bubon's 3-point success paced his team-leading scoring figure of 483 points with a 16.1 average through the regular season. He also led the Barons in total field goals (173), attempts (387) and free-throw percentage (83.3 percent, 40-for-48).

Bubon also was the Most Valuable Player of the Brewton-Parker Christmas Shootout, in which the Barons won both their games to begin a streak of 16 wins in their next 20 games.

Stuart, a 6-3 product of Ashland City, Tenn., has a 3.55 grade point average as a major in sport and fitness studies and also made the academic list in 2001 and 2002. As a senior, Stuart averaged 3.5 points and 1.5 rebounds off the bench for the Barons.

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Brewton-Parker College men's basketball coach Steve Barker (right) receives a plaque representing his selection as the Georgia-Alabama-Carolina Conference Coach of the Year from GACC Commissioner Bill Ensley during the conference awards dinner March 12 in the Brewton-Parker cafeteria on the campus in Mount Vernon.
 

Brewton-Parker College senior guard Gabe Bubon (left) receives a plaque representing his selection as the Georgia-Alabama-Carolina Conference men's basketball Newcomer of the Year from GACC Commissioner Bill Ensley during the conference awards dinner March 12 in the Brewton-Parker cafeteria on the campus in Mount Vernon.
 

Senior guard Josh Stuart was named to the GACC's All-Academic Team for the third consecutive year.