South Puget Sound men’s basketball players lauded in NWAC All-Region Awards

After another successful campaign in this year’s Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC) men’s basketball season, the South Puget Sound Community College Clippers commended their hoopers who have been shortlisted in the 2024 NWAC Men's Basketball All-Region Awards.

Jazen Guillory was awarded Defensive Player of the Year for the NWAC West Region and is included in the First Team West-Region five and Lorenzo Moore was included in the Second Team West-Region team after their performances this season for the Clippers.

The 6-foot-3 guard Guillory, who is just in his sophomore year, led South Puget Sound in their campaign this season after averaging 17.3 points per game, 4.1 assists per game, and 1.2 steals per game, and was the team’s second in rebounds per game at 6.2, just behind Moore.

“It’s surreal. I know that I put a lot of hard work into the offseason and the results show. Ultimately, I feel it’s always a team award — both of them — because I couldn’t have done it without my coaches’ and teammates’ belief in me as a leader. Without their help, I wouldn’t be in this position,” Guillory acknowledged his role as team leader at a young age.

6-foot-5 center Lorenzo Moore also had a good season for the Clippers, leading SPSCC in rebounds per game at 8.8, which is more than his scoring average at 8.6, while impressively ranking eighth in the whole NWAC in total rebounds and third in the league in field goals percentage at 63.4%.

“Jazen and Lorenzo have done an incredible job to shift the mentality of our group quickly over a two-year span.” men’s basketball head coach Zachary Smith said. “It’s fun to watch them — especially being two kids that I signed early on — to watch their start to finish and the amount of effort and time they put into their work, not only on the court but changing the culture of our program.”

The awards come from the heels of the Clippers securing their spot for the second successive year in the NWAC men’s basketball championships as representatives of Olympia after finishing as the #3 seed in the West after an 8-6 win-loss record against teams in the West Region, while achieving an 18-12 record for the whole of NWAC. They were then knocked out of the tournament after losing to East Region #2 seed Columbia Basin College in the Sweet 16.