Conference Champs Headline WSC North Awards
Cuesta College and Ventura College shared the Western State Conference North Division crown in 2019. It's only fitting that the two schools shared the top awards. Cuesta College sophomore Josh Wilson-Murray was named the divisions Player of the Year, while Head Coach Rusty Blair shared Coach of the Year honors with Ventura College's Joey Ramirez. Rounding out the awards was Allan Hancock College sophomore forward JT Riddick, who was named the Defensive Player of the Year.
Riddick, a 6'9 sophomore forward out of Waterbury, CT, plugged the lane for the Bulldogs during their 2018-2019 campaign. Riddick led the entire State in blocks per game, averaging 3.3 swats a contest. Twice throughout the season he notched at least seven blocks in a game, and in WSC North play alone, he upped his season average to 3.8 blocks a game.
Wilson-Murray meanwhile was the leading scorer for the conference champion Cougars. Wilson-Murray averaged a team best 16.8 points per game, and did so on 38.2% shooting from downtown and 42.6% shooting overall from the floor. He also averaged 1.8 assists, 2.3 steals, and 7.4 boards a game.
Blair and Ramirez shared conference Coach of the Year honors. Both coaches led their respective teams to a share of the WSC North crown. For Blair, in a year that he earned his 500th career win, the Cougars won their final six games to storm to the conference title for the 11th time in program history. For Blair it's the eight time in his career that was he was named the Coach of the Year. Ramirez meanwhile led the Pirates to their fourth straight title, and for the fourth straight year he was named the Coach of the Year.
