Junior Zavier Lucero makes NAIA All-American Team

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced the 2020 Division II Men's Basketball All-American Teams on Thursday where Keelhauler junior Forward Zavier Lucero received an Honorable Mention selection.

Lucero adds this feat among the many accolades he has already accomplished so far in his career at Cal Maritime, including three All-Cal Pac Conference First Team selections and a Freshman of the Year Award.

Lucero becomes the fourth Keelhauler in program history to receive an NAIA All-American Honorable Mention and is the first junior ever to receive the honor for Cal Maritime. He joins Grant Blaser (2013-2014), Roman Delgado (2015-2016) and Daniel Radford (2016-2017) as the only ones to accomplish the effort.

"I want to start by thanking CSU Maritime Academy for supporting athletics and more importantly, providing myself and the rest of the student body with a quality education," Lucero said. "I'm extremely thankful for the opportunity to play the game I love at a high level and to be recognized with such a great honor. I wouldn't be here without my coaches who trust and give me the opportunity to represent our school and team on the court, so a big thank you goes out to them.

"Thank you to my teammates who have supported me way beyond the lines on the court, and have been friends, which I value more than anything else. For what they have done for me on and off the court they deserve a lot of the credit and most importantly my family, both near and far, who have been the backbone in my life, never missing a game and always showing me unconditional love throughout the entirety of this journey."

While leading the Keelhaulers to their best record since the 2015-2016 season and back in the Cal Pac Tournament, Lucero averaged a career and program high 19.5 points per game (2nd in the Cal Pac) and 10.2 rebounds per game (1st in the Cal Pac) while finishing with 14 double-doubles on the year to lead the Cal Pac and sitting atop of the conference in nearly every offensive category. He becomes just the fourth player from the Cal Pac in the last 17 years to average a double-double.

Lucero was also able to become the program leader in points scored as well as achieving the 1,000 point club along the way passing former Keelhauler Daniel Radford (1,032) to finish his junior season with 1,262 points and counting with his senior campaign still to go.

Having the chance to coach Lucero throughout his success story so far at Cal Maritime, Head Coach Brendan Rooney touched on the growth he has seen from Lucero through his first three years and what he means to the program itself.

"Zavier is undoubtedly a tremendous talent, but it is his work ethic, leadership and desire to win that led him to achieve this award," Rooney said. "He has improved with every year in our program and I am extremely excited to see the growth he demonstrates going into his senior year."

Lucero is ready to take his performance and his team to the next level next season emphasizing his winning mentality and hunger for a national tournament berth.

"I'm honored to receive this award, and I'm also humbled in that I am far from what I believe I can achieve. I am motivated to take the "honorable mention" off the award next year, but most of all to lead our team to a longer season and a national tournament berth which means more than any individual awards I can receive."