PELLA—And yet another honor for Central College's Joshua Van Gorp (senior, Pella, Pella Christian HS) as he was tabbed as the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Division III National Player of the Week.
           
He's the first player in program history to receive the USBWA award. Earlier Tuesday he was named to the D3hoops.com Team of the Week and Monday he was selected as the American Rivers Male Athlete of the Week.
           
A 6-foot-10 center, Van Gorp was an NABC All-America Team pick last year. He powered Central to two lopsided conference road wins last week, 91-70 at Simpson College Wednesday and 94-75 Saturday at league-leading Coe College, then ranked No. 23 in Division III. Saturday at Coe he broke a pair of 43-year-old school records. He racked up 48 points, breaking the school single-game scoring mark of 45 set by Jeff Verhoef in 1979 and tied by Steve Kraayenbrink in 1981. He was 20-of-24 from the field, also breaking Kraayenbrink's field goals mark of 18. Van Gorp had 14 rebounds as well. Wednesday at Simpson, Van Gorp had 29 points and 10 rebounds. The two double-doubles give him 10 double-doubles for the year and 17 for his career.
           
For the two games, he averaged 38.5 points and 12.0 rebounds while shooting 80.5% from the field.
           
Van Gorp's 48 points are the fourth-most by an NCAA Division III men's player this year. He moved into first place in Division III in season field goals (196), fourth in scoring (23.3), sixth in field goal percentage (66.9) and 17th in rebounding (11.0).
           
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. It has selected an All-America team since the 1956-57 season.