From OC Sports
Murray Evans, Sports Information Director
NEW YORK – John Moon will begin his senior season at Oklahoma Christian the same way he ended his junior campaign – as an All-American.
Moon, a 7-foot-center from Crescent, has been named to the Sporting News‘ preseason NCAA Division II All-America second-team list, which appears in the publication’s basketball preview magazine released earlier this month. He is OC’s first preseason All-America pick in men’s basketball since the program began playing at the Division II level with the 2012-13 season.
“It’s a well-deserved honor for John and I am proud of him,” OC coach Cory Cole said.
As a junior, Moon became only the second player in Heartland Conference history to lead the league in three major stat categories – scoring (23.9 points per game), rebounding (9.1 per game) and blocked shots (70, or 2.5 per game).
He finished 12th in Division II in scoring, 14th in blocked shots per game, 18th in total blocks, 17th in minutes per game (36:53), 10th in total field goals made (257) and 28th in field-goal percentage (58.8). He shattered numerous Heartland Conference and OC records and tied a couple of NCAA marks thanks to a 50-point outing in a win over Oklahoma Panhandle State in which he went 20-of-20 from the field.
Not surprisingly, Moon appeared on numerous postseason honor lists. He received honorable mention on the All-America lists produced by the Conference Commissioners Association and the Division II Bulletin. He also was named to the Academic All-America first-team list by the College Sports Information Directors of America, the first OC player so chosen for that prestigious honor.
The website OklahomaSports.net named him as the player of the year among Oklahoma’s 12 Division II programs. Moon also received All-South Central Region first-team honors from the CCA and was a first-team All-District selection by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
While he wasn’t named as the Heartland Conference’s player of the year by league coaches, he did receive first-team all-conference honors and was chosen as the league’s defensive player of the year.
The Sporting News included only 25 players on its preseason All-America lists – five on the first team, five on the second team and 15 on the honorable mention list. Moon was one of two Heartland Conference players recognized, as senior guard Alex Cooper of Arkansas-Fort Smith received honorable mention.
OC will open its season on Nov. 11 at Texas A&M-Commerce. The Eagles’ regular-season home opener will be Nov. 19 against Barclay (Kan.).