Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell's Chris McNaughton Becomes First Three-Time Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of Year in Men's Basketball
4/6/2007 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
April 6, 2007
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell senior Chris McNaughton (Leutershausen, Germany/Dientzenhofer Gymnasium), already one of the most highly decorated players in Patriot League history, added another milestone on Friday when he became the league's first three-time winner of the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year award in the sport of men's basketball.
An electrical engineering major with a 3.34 cumulative grade-point average, McNaughton is the ninth student-athlete to earn Scholar-Athlete honors three times in the same sport in the 17-year history of the league, and his selection is the ninth for Bison men's basketball players in 17 years.
McNaughton is the second Bucknell student-athlete to receive Patriot League Scholar-Athlete recognition this week, following in the footsteps of pole vaulter David Mante, who won for men's indoor track. Bucknell now has a league-high 106 all-time Patriot League Scholar-Athlete honorees.
After earning a spot on the men's basketball all-rookie team as a freshman in 2003-04, McNaughton went on to garner First Team All-Patriot League honors in each of the next three seasons, becoming Bucknell's first three-time first-team all-conference selection in 12 years.
McNaughton played in a school-record 125 games, never missing one in four years, and he will graduate next month ranked sixth on Bucknell's all-time scoring list with 1,529 career points. He also ranks fifth in field goals made (609), second in field-goal percentage (.598), seventh in blocked shots (80) and 12th in rebounds (646). McNaughton ranks second among centers on both the Bucknell and Patriot League career scoring charts.
Many of his best games came against Bucknell's strongest opponents, including a career-high 29-point outing against No. 4 Villanova in 2005-06. McNaughton, who helped lead the Bison to back-to-back Patriot League championships and first-round NCAA Tournament victories in 2005 and 2006, was a clutch postseason performer. He shot 66.9 percent from the field over his final 13 career postseason games, not to mention he made perhaps the biggest shot in school history, a game-winning jump hook with 10.5 seconds left to beat Kansas 64-63 at the 2005 NCAA Tournament. That was the first NCAA win in Bucknell and Patriot League history. He was a three-time Patriot League All-Tournament selection.
McNaughton led the Patriot League in field-goal percentage all four years, shooting 56.7 percent this season. He also ranked among the league leaders in scoring (12.0) and rebounding (5.9). He had 23 points and six rebounds in a PL Tournament semifinal win over Army, leading Bucknell to the championship game for the third straight season, and over last 15 games of 2006-07 he averaged 14.3 ppg, 7.9 rpg and shot 60.9%. Bucknell was 14-1 over that span, with the only loss in the PL championship game.
The Patriot League awards Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors to one student-athlete in each of the 23 league-sponsored sports. In order to be eligible, student-athletes must be at least a sophomore and carry a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.20.
Previous Bucknell men's basketball players to earn Patriot League Scholar-Athlete honors were Paul Olkowski in 1993, Tom Welch in 1997, Valter Karavanic in 1998 and 1999, and Dan Blankenship in 2002 and 2003.
