WALTHAM, Mass. -- Senior guard Jason Westrol (Brielle, N.J./Manasquan HS), who has led the Bentley University Falcons to their third Elite Eight and has played in 102 more wins than losses during his career, has been named the 2010 NCAA Division II Player of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
Westrol will receive his award at the AT&T NABC Guardians of the Game Awards Show on Sunday, April 4 in Indianapolis. The event begins at 6 pm ET at the Murat Theatre.
Westrol was also named to the 2010 State Farm Coaches Division II All-America team by the NABC. He's the first Bentley player to be a two-time NABC All-America since Brian Hammel 35 years ago.
It's been a remarkable season and career for the 6-foot-3 Westrol, who was previously named the Northeast-10 Player of the Year, the Daktronics Division II East Region Player of the Year, a first-team Basketball Times Division II All-America and the Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Division II East Regional.
Westrol, coming off a career-best 33 points in the team's 81-69 win over Philadelphia in the East Regional final, enters the Elite Eight with averages of 21.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.3 steals. His 658 points is 11 shy of the Bentley single season record (Jim Ferrer, 1989) and his scoring average is the best by a Falcon since Bill Holden 20 years ago.
Westrol enters the Elite Eight with a string of eight straight 20-point games, a stretch in which he has put up an average of 25.9 points. He averaged 25.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists during the three-game regional, and his championship game performance of 33 points included 26 after intermission, a total that tied a 40-year-old school record for points in a half.
Westrol, the second player in school history to reach the 2,000-point milestone, enters the Elite Eight 30 points above the mark. He's Bentley's all-time leader in games started, consecutive starts, minutes played, field goals made and field goals attempted, and enters the Elite Eight tied for the most games in the program's history. He is also number two in career steals.
Of all his achievements, the most impressive is his lifetime record in a Falcon uniform. He's taken to the court 132 times and has left with a victory 117 times, a remarkable winning percentage of .886. In addition to three Elite Eights, he's helped the Falcons to four straight 25-win seasons (including 25-6 this season), four Sweet 16 appearances, three Northeast-10 regular season championships, two NE-10 playoff titles and four separate winning streaks of at least 14 games.
Westrol is just the second player from the current East Region to be selected as the National Player of the Year in the 28 years that it has been awarded, the first being Elad Inbar of UMass-Lowell in 2004.
Westrol and Bentley will take on Augusta State (Ga.) Wednesday at 8:30 pm at the MassMutual Center in Springfield in the opening round of the Elite Eight.
