KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Hours after being named a third-team All-American by the Victory Sports Network, Park University junior forward Jon Meriweather was tabbed a Second-Team NAIA All-American by the national headquarters in downtown Kansas City.
The announcement came in conjunction with the 2008 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship game that saw Oklahoma City knock off Mountain State at Kansas City’s historic Municipal Auditorium.
Meriweather is the third NAIA All-American in three years for the Pirates and the first on the second team. Last season, Brandon Voorhees was a first-team selection while Kevin Nelson landed on the second team.
Meriweather, a 6-foot-8 second-year player for the Pirates, was No. 5 in the NAIA in total rebounding at 9.9 boards per game while also finishing the year 59.5-percent from the floor, a mark that was sixth among NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball players.
He led Park in scoring at 20.3 points per game, a number that stands No. 9 in NAIA Division I, helped by a 79.9-percent year at the foul line, where he scored 135 of his 549 points this season on 169 free throw attempts.
Meriweather made 27 starts in 27 games played for Park, earning NAIA National Player of the Week honors twice this season, making him the first player in nearly two years to accomplish the national award more than once in one season.
He also led the team with 55 blocked shots, 43 of which came after the holiday break, averaging better than two per game and ranking No. 10 in NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball for blocking average.
Meriweather had 12 double-double’s on the year to go with three 30-point outings, scoring 33 in a win over Rockhurst, followed by a career-high 38 in a two-point loss midway through the year to Voorhees College.
He also had 30 in a February win over Brescia.
Park University finished the year with an overall mark of 16-13, ending the season in the semifinals of the NAIA Division I Independent Region Men’s Basketball Tournament in Orangeburg, S.C.
