Batista named to NJCAA All-American 2nd team

Batista named to NJCAA All-American 2nd team
Barton County Community College men's basketball sophomore JP Batista was selected as a 2nd team All-American by the NJCAA, which released its All-American teams today. He was 1 of 3 Jayhawk West players to earn recognition. This marks the 6th consecutive season the Cougars have had at least one player named 1st or 2nd team All-American by the NJCAA. Batista was a key reason the Cougars finished the season in the Region VI Championship game before ending its year with a 25-9 mark one game short of the school's 4th NJCAA Tournament appearance.

Batista led Barton with a 20.2 scoring average this season and a 9.2 rebounding average. The 6-9, 270-pound post player also hit better than 62 percent of his shots from the floor – 266-of-428 for a .621 clip. In limited efforts from beyond the arc, Batista hit 10-of-22 for .455. He also shot very well from the free throw line, hitting 145-of-188 for .771. He was able to post 15 double-doubles in Barton's 34 games.

During Jayhawk West play, Batista picked it up another notch, averaging 21.2 and 10.2 rebounds. He posted 10 of his 15 double-doubles during those 16 games, including a stretch of 7 in a row at one point. Three times this season Batista topped the 30-point, with a high of 32 at Northeastern and in the Jayhawk ShootOut against Allen County. During one stretch in conference action he scored more than 20 points in 10 of 12 games. He ended the season by making his final 29 free throws, including a 17-of-17 effort against Cowley County in the Region VI Quarterfinals that put him in the Barton County record books for most free throws made in a game without a miss. The 17 free throws made tie him for 2nd all-time in a single game at Barton.

Batista played his freshman season at Western Nebraska before transferring to Barton. While at Western Nebraska, he scored 14 points and grabbed 6 rebounds per game.

Other Jayhawk West players to earn All-American honors were Brandon Gary of Hutchinson and EJ Drayton of Colby. Gary was selected to the 1st while Drayton was named honorable mention. Other former Barton opponents who were recognized were Quinton Hosley (Lamar – 1st team), Tyrell Everett (SMS-West Plains – 2nd team), and Marcus McIntosh (Northeastern – HM).

Coach Dave Campbell comments
It is a very deserving honor for a young man that averaged a double-double in Jayhawk Conference play. He was as steady as the rock of Gibraltar. You could count on him every night. He came to work every night. That is something you can't say for every individual throughout the country.

Stats
|---TOTAL---| |---3-PTS---| |----REBOUNDS----|
54 JP Batista......... 34-34 1017 29.9 266-428 .621 10-22 .455 145-188 .771 121 191 312 9.2 78 2 46 90 21 24 687 20.2

NJCAA 2004 Men's Basketball All-American Team
1st Team 
Brandon Gary, 6-7, 200, So,. Hutchinson Community College, Kan. 
Quinton Hosley, 6-7, 210, So., Lamar Community College, Colo. 
Jerry Nichols, 6-5, 200, So., Walters State Community College, Tenn. 
Donta Smith, 6-7, 220, So., Southeastern Illinois College, Ill. 
Kelvin Pena, 6-3, 190, So., Southeastern Community College, Iowa 
Taj Gray, 6-8, 230, So,. Redlands Community College, Okla. 
Dwayne Shackleford, 5-10, 185, So., Allegany College of Maryland, Md. 
Carl Landry, 6-8, 225, So., Vincennes University, Ind. 
Chris Mitchell, 6-6, 225, So, Highland Community College, Ill. 
Je'Kel Foster, 6-3, 200, So., Chipola College, Fla. 

2nd Team 
Phil Hahn, 6-0, 180, So., North Dakota State College Of Science, N.D. 
Rekalin Sims, 6-8, 210, Fr., Salt Lake Community College, Utah 
Michael Neal, 6-4, 190, Fr., Lon Morris College, Texas 
Jeremy Long, 6-3, 195, So., Eastern Arizona College, Ariz. 
Hakim Rasul, 6-6, 220, So., Midland College, Texas 
Isaac Hines, 6-0, 175, So., Collin County Community College, Texas 
Terrell Everett, 6-4, 175, So., Southwest Missouri State Univ.-West Plains, Mo. 
Jihad Muhammad, 6-0, 160, So., San Jacinto College-Central, Texas 
J.P. Batista, 6-9, 270, So., Barton County Community College, Kan. 
Ivan Almonte, 6-6, 215, So., Southeastern Community College, Iowa 

3rd Team 
Donta Watson, 5-10, 170, So., North Platte Community College, Neb. 
Bobby Dixon, 5-10, 160, So., Kankakee College, Ill. 
John Lane, 6-5, 195, Fr., Gogebic Community College, Mich. 
Ransom Antoine, 6-4, 200, So., Enterprise Ozark Community College, Ala. 
Lorenzo Gordon, 6-6, 235, So., Mineral Area Community College, Mo. 
Kevin Smith, 6-6, 220, So., Coastal Georgia Community College, Ga. 
Matt Gipson, 6-9, 235, So., North Idaho College, Idaho 
Fred Peete, 6-4, 200, Fr., Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, Okla. 
Anthony Paez, 6-7, 200, So., Central Florida Community College, Fla. 
Frank Johnson, 6-4, 190, So., Rockingham Community College, N.C. 

Honorable Mention 
Marcus McIntosh, 6-0, 180, Fr., Northeastern Junior College, Colo. 
E.J. Drayton, 6-8, 200, So., Colby Community College, Kan. 
Rod Venner, 6-3, 180, So., Atlanta Metropolitan College, Ga. 
Adrian Uter, 6-7, 218, So., Broward Community College, Fla. 
Antonio Fitzgerald, 6-1, 175, So., Kilgore College, Texas 
Vincent Grier, 6-5, 200, So., Dixie State College, Utah 
Bryant Dillon, 6-6, 190, So., Southwestern Illinois College, Ill. 
Roderick Trice, 6-4, 175, So., Georgia Perimeter College, Ga. 
Dale Parsons, 6-0, 180, So., Vincennes University, Ind. 
Corey Brown, 6-0, 180, So., Volunteer State Community College, Tenn. 
Nedu Onyeuku, 6-3, 180, So., Iowa Western Community College, Iowa 
Jean Felix, 6-7, 210, So., Bevill State Community College-Sumiton, Ala. 
Cordell Jeanty, 6-5, 21,0 So., John A. Logan College, Ill. 
Ryan Rourke, 6-7, 205, So., Mesa Community College, Ariz. 
Jerice Crouch, 6-0, 180, So., Palm Beach Community College, Fla. 
Marcus Perry, 6-2, 180, So., Southern Union State Community College, Ala. 
Akeem Scot,t 6-0, 180, So., Garrett College, Md. 
James Hal,l 6-4, 205, So., Eastern Oklahoma State College, Okla. 
Eddie Smith, 6-2, 17, Fr., Moberly Area Community College, Mo. 
Brandon Polk, 6-6, 210, So., Redlands Community College, Okla.

Barton County All-Americans
2004 – JP Batista (2nd Team)
2003 – Robert Whaley (2nd Team)
2002 – Robert Whaley (1st Team)
2001 – Ebi Ere (2nd Team)
2000 – Eric Bush (2nd Team)
2000 – Jamal Davis (3rd Team)
1999 – LaMont Roland (1st Team, NJCAA Player-of-the-Year)
1999 – Alek Radojevic (Honorable Mention)
1996 – Brandan Hughes (2nd Team)
1992 – Mark Hutton (2nd Team)
1991 – Mark Bell (2nd Team)
1989 – Kenny Williams (1st Team)
1989 – Jackie Jones (2nd Team)
1988 – LaKeith Humphries (3rd Team)

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