Jeremy Sheppard Named To The American All-Rookie Team

PROVIDENCE, R.I. --- East Carolina freshman Jeremy Sheppard was named to the American Athletic Conference All-Rookie Team Tuesday as the league announced the awards voted upon the its 11 head coaches.

Sheppard led all American freshmen in assists per game (3.5), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.3) and 3-point field goals made (47). He set the ECU freshman season record for assists (98) and is two shy of becoming the first Pirate rookie to drop 100 dimes. He also averaged 9.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 26.3 minutes per game with 11 starts in 28 games during the regular season.

Sheppard was named The American Rookie-of-the-Week on Dec. 5 after averaging 11.5 points, 5.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds in two games against N.C. Central and Hampton, while connecting on 63.6 percent of his field goal attempts including 7-of-11 3-point attempts. During conference play he averaged an American conference freshmen-best 3.4 assists per game with a 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio, while ranking second among all rookies with 1.3 steals per game.

Sheppard is the third Pirate to be named to The American All-Rookie Team since ECU joined the league in 2014-15. B.J. Tyson was a unanimous selection in 2015 and Kentrell Barkley was voted to the team last season.

Joining Sheppard on the team are Jarron Cumberland (Cincinnati), Vance Jackson (UConn), K.J. Lawson (Memphis) and Quinton Rose (Temple).

East Carolina opens play in the 2017 American Basketball Championship tournament on Thursday at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. The Pirates play Temple in the first game of the tournament at 3:30 p.m. The game will be televised by ESPNU and can also be seen on the WatchESPN app.