Men's Basketball Southern Conference

WCU's Waginger Named to All-Defensive Team

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Western Carolina senior guard Brigham Waginger was named to the 2010 CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Defensive All-America team this week by the online publication. Waginger, who was a third-team All-Southern Conference selection by the voting media, earned SoCon co-Defensive Player of the Year plaudits from the league's head coaches.

Rather then assembling first, second, third and fourth team squads, the collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Defensive All-America team is one team consisting of 20 players. Division I coaches and NBA scouts are part of the selection process, but final decision rests with the collegeinsider.com staff.

Waginger was one of two SoCon players to garner the recognition, joined by junior post Jeremy Simmons from the College of Charleston with which whom he shared the league's top defensive player honors.

A native of South Webster, Ohio, Waginger finished the year with a school single-season record 90 steals, re-writing his own school benchmark of 81 set just a season ago. Waginger also set the school record for career thefts with 285 during his four-year career, which ranks him third in the Southern Conference history. He averaged 2.244 steals per game during his four-year career.

This season, Waginger's 2.6 steals per game average ranked him seventh in the NCAA in the thefts. He additionally finished the year ranked 37th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.32.

Waginger became the first player ever in the SoCon to lead the league in steals in three-consecutive seasons. He is also just the second player to lead the conference in steals in three seasons all-told during a collegiate career.

Behind Waginger, the Catamounts ranked seventh nationally in steals per game with an average of 9.4 per game which also helped WCU rank a SoCon-best 22nd nationally in turnover margin (+3.3).

In addition to his pilfering prowess, Waginger also finished his career ranked ninth in WCU history in assists, dishing out 398 over the past four seasons. He scored 810 career points and finished ranked sixth in school annals with 165 made 3-pointers.

This season, the Catamounts (22-12) posted the institution's first 20-win season as a Division I program and earned the school's first post-season berth since 1996 after taking part in the CollegeInsider.com Post-season Tournament.