Keenan National Preseason Player of Year

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Big Rapids, Mich. - Ferris State University men's basketball standout Justin Keenan (Grand Rapids/Ottawa Hills) has been chosen as the Division II Bulletin National Preseason Player of the Year for the 2010-11 campaign in an announcement made Monday (Oct. 4) by the publication.

A senior forward/center and returning All-America honoree, Keenan was picked as the nation's top returning player heading into the 2010-11 season from among 16 players recognized as "Super 16" Preseason All-Americans by Division II Bulletin, a monthly magazine covering Division II basketball across the country.  The publication listed 21 others as honorable mention recipients in its 20th anniversary presason preview issue.

This year represented the second consecutive year Division II Bulletin has tabbed Keenan as a "Super 16" Preseason All-American and it is the second time he's already received preseason accolades this year as he was named earlier as one of the country's top five predicted players on the 2010-11 The Sporting News' Preseason All-America list.

Keenan was the only player from a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) member school on the Division II Bulletin "Super 16" list and one of only two players from the entire NCAA-II Midwest Region.  A pair of players from league member Findlay received preseason honorable mention All-America laurels in senior guard Nathan Hyde and junior Kyle Caiola along with senior guard/forward Justin Ringler of Grand Valley State.

In addition to the preseason All-America listing, the publication also included a Preseason Top 25 list with Findlay listed second behind preseason number one Cal-Poly Pomona.  Another GLIAC school, Grand Valley State, came in ninth overall.

Keenan was honored asa 2009-10 State Farm® Coaches' All-America First Team selection, becoming the first-ever All-America pick at the Division II level in Ferris State men's basketball history.  He was the first Bulldog player in 36 years to claim All-America accolades and joined four previous players to achieve the distinction in Ferris men's hoops history. Keenan was also tabbed as a 2009-10 Division II Bulletin All-America Second Team recipient.

Previously, Keenan received both NABC All-District and Daktronics All-Midwest Region First Team honors last campaign. He was also chosen by the Grand Rapids Press as its West Michigan Small College Player of the Year for the 2009-10 campaign and honored as FSU's male recipient of the Dean Davenport "Bulldog of the Year" Award.

Keenan was also honored last year as the winner of the prestigious GLIAC Player of the Year Award for the 2009-10 season, becoming the first Bulldog men's basketball player in 20 years to attain the recognition. He was only the fifth player in school history to be tabbed as the league's top seasonal performer and the first since David Tuck in 1990.

A two-time first team All-GLIAC recipient, Keenan averaged a league-leading 21.1 points per game in 22 conference regular-season contests last season and held a 20.1 points per game average for all games last campaign.  Additionally, his 465 points in league games finished only six shy of matching the league's single-season scoring record of 471 points set by Saginaw Valley State's Michael Williams in the 1993-94 season.

The 6-6 Keenan also broke two GLIAC single-season records with his 176 made free throws and 253 total attempts in league regular-season play last season while becoming the school's all-time leader in career made free throws (562) along with topping his own single-season record with 215 makes in all games at the charity stripe.  He shattered the previous league records of 132 free throws made and 196 attempts that had been set by former Bulldog center Adam Anderson in the 2000-01 season.

Keenan guided the Bulldogs to a second consecutive conference tournament berth and a trip to the semifinals after leading the league with 14 scoring games of 20 points or more overall last year. He claimed GLIAC North Division Player of the Week accolades four-straight weeks during the season and reached double-figure scoring in 28 of 29 contests last campaign.

In addition to leading the league in scoring, Keenan also concluded the season ranked first in offensive rebounds (3.2 pg.) along with third in field goal percentage (55.1%) and fifth in total rebounding (6.9 rpg.). To date, Keenan has 1,569 career points and ranks eighth on the school's career scoring chart.

His 215 free throws (215-312) last year topped his own school single-season mark of 180 free throws recorded the year before (2008-09). He shot 154 free throws more than any other GLIAC player last season for all games and made 90 more than any other league player. Last year marked the third-straight year he led the league in both makes and attempts while being voted FSU's team Most Valuable Player for the third year in a row.

Overall, Keenan has reached double-figure scoring in 79 of 84 career outings. He's tallied 10 points or more in 56 of his last 58 contests, which included a personal career-high 35 points in a league home win over then defending NCAA Division II National Champion Findlay in early February of last season (Feb. 6) as the Bulldogs beat the Oilers for only the second time in the last 45 years.

Keenan led the Bulldog men's basketball team to a 16-13 overall record last season and it represented the eighth consecutive year in which the Bulldogs had won 10 or more games under current eighth-year head coach Bill Sall after doing so only twice in the seven seasons prior to his arrival.

The Bulldogs were listed as one of the nation's possible breakthrough teams for the 2010-11 campaign in The Sporting News Division II Preseason Top 10 poll.  They will officially begin preparations with their first practice of the year on Oct. 15.