BERRY NAMED TEXAS COLLEGE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
May 28, 2009

FORT WORTH, TX:  The Texas Association of Basketball Coaches has named Texas Wesleyan University’s Chris Berry its Small College Men’s Basketball Player of the Year for the 2008-09 season.

The honor is the latest in a growing list for Berry who led the Rams to the NAIA’s Sweet 16 and a 29-5 record.  Berry was named Red River Athletic Conference Player of the Year after leading the Rams to their second straight regular season conference title with a 16-2 mark in RRAC play.

The senior from Dallas, TX, had arguably the greatest individual season in the 72-year history of Texas Wesleyan basketball.  He averaged 21.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.  He ranked fifth in the nation in points per game and second in total points while setting a new school single-season scoring record at 740 points, eclipsing Clifton McNeely’s mark of 725 set in 1947.

For that performance he earned 1st-team NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball All-American honors, becoming only the second Ram to ever achieve the honor.  After scoring 19 and 36 points in two NAIA National Tournament games, Berry was also named to the 2009 Buffalo-Funds NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball All-Tournament team.

In addition, Berry was named RRAC Newcomer of the Year after earning seven RRAC Player of the Week awards during the season.

In 34 games this season, he was the team’s leading scorer 24 times.  Berry also led the team with 58 steals and set another school record with 216 free throws made (that record was also held by McNeely with 213 in the 1946-47 season).

“It has always been my belief that if you are ‘Player of the Year’ or ‘MVP’ of any kind, your team has to be successful,” commented head coach Terry Waldrop.  “Chris Berry had arguably the best single year in the history of Texas Wesleyan basketball in terms of statistics and individual achievement.  I think that Chris would tell you, and I believe this, his proudest achievement was the success of our team.  He put up tremendous numbers, but it was also on a team that was highly successful at the national level throughout the entire season.”

Waldrop went on to comment, “We are very humble that such a prestigious organization as the TABC would honor Chris and our program by selecting him as their College Player of the Year.  I think he is very deserving of this award and that the award shows the respect and recognition that both Chris and Texas Wesleyan Basketball has established in Texas and Nationally.  We were very happy to have a player and person of Chris’ caliber in our program, and we will be following him closely as he enters the professional ranks.”