KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Grand Valley State junior Jake Van Tubbergen has been named a National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II All-American for the 2019-2020 season. The 16-player team is selected and voted on by member coaches of Division II. The All-America team was announced Tuesday (March 24) afternoon.
 
Van Tubbergen becomes the first Laker to garner All-America status from the prestigious organization since Callistus Eziukwu in 2007-08. Van Tubbergen and fellow Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) player Kyle Monroe were the only two from the district to reach All-America heights.
 
Van Tubbergen also earned first team All-Region honors from D2CCA as well as first team All-GLIAC honors for his outstanding junior season. He was the only player in the GLIAC to average a double-double for the year, averaging 18.4 points and 10 rebounds per game. The Holland, Michigan native recorded 14 double-doubles on the season, which led the GLIAC and ranked 14^th nationally.
 
His scoring average ranked fourth in the conference and he led the conference in both rebounding average and offensive rebounding average (2.60) while also ranking fifth in the conference in field goal percentage (54.1).
 
Van Tubbergen, starting all 30 games for the Lakers, eclipsed the 20-point mark 15 times during the season and reached the 30-mark thrice. He set a career high with 39 points in a double-overtime win at Northern Michigan on February 20, which marked the highest point total by a Laker in a game since 1997. He scored a total of 551 points on the season, tenth-most in a single season in GVSU history. He now has 1,282 total points heading into his senior season. His 300 rebounds ranks 8th in Laker annals for a single campaign.
 
Behind Van Tubbergen, the Lakers posted a 23-7 overall record and went 15-5 in GLIAC play. The 23 wins were the most in a single season by a Laker team since the 2007-08 campaign. GVSU finished second overall in the GLIAC and won the South Division; their first divisional crown in a decade and seventh in program history. The Lakers were ranked as high as No. 11 in the nation during the season and were ranked fourth in the final NCAA Midwest Region poll before the NCAA Tournament selection show.
 
About the National Association of Basketball Coaches
 
Located in Kansas City, MO, the NABC was founded in 1927 by Forrest "Phog" Allen, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Kansas.  Allen, a student of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, organized coaches into this collective group to serve as Guardians of the Game.  The NABC currently has nearly 5,000 members consisting primarily of university and college men's basketball coaches.  All members of the NABC are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today's student-athletes.  The four core values of being a Guardian of the Game are advocacy, leadership, service and education.  Additional information about the NABC, its programs and membership, can be found at www.nabc.org.