College Men’s Basketball News – Guilford’s Houston Named to Academic All-District Team

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Guilford College junior Zachary Houston (Hickory, N.C./St. Stephen’s) was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) NCAA Division III Academic All-District V Team, the organization announced Thursday. Houston advances to CoSIDA’s Division III Academic All-America ballot, the results of which will be announced March 1.

The all-district squads are comprised of men’s basketball students from Division III institutions in the 10-state area from Virginia to Missouri. Nominees were starters or key reserves of sophomore academic standing or above who maintained at least a 3.3 grade point average.

Houston, a 6-0, 175-pound point guard, has started all 22 of Guilford’s games this season. He scores just 4.1 points per game, but tops the Quakers and ranks among the top-four Old Dominion Athletic Conference per-game leaders in minutes (36.2, 1st), rebounds (8.1, 2nd), assists (4.5, 2nd), and steals (1.8, 4th). His 3.33 assist-to-turnover ratio stands ninth among NCAA Division III leaders through games of February 10. Houston ranks 18th nationally in minutes (796) and 70th in assists per game. The team captain has six games with 10 or more rebounds, including a game- and career-high 16-carom effort in a January 6 win at Randolph College. He had a personal- and game-best 10 assists (one shy of the school standard) in a February 7 victory at Bridgewater College. It marked one of his 12 contests with five or more assists.

A two-time Academic All-ODAC honoree and five-time Guilford Student-Athlete Honor Roll member, Houston is a dean’s list health sciences and exercise and sport sciences double major with a 3.77 grade point average. He serves on Guilford’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and is an active member of the Guilford Christian Ministry. Houston is also a certified nursing assistant and was selected to the ODAC’s 2014-15 Sportsmanship Team.

Coach Tom Palombo’s Quakers are 13-9 overall, 8-5 in the ODAC. Guilford enters Saturday’s home game with Randolph-Macon College in fourth place in the ODAC standings. Tipoff in Ragan-Brown Field House is set for 2:00 p.m.