2008-09 Daktronics-NAIA MBB Scholar Athletes (PDF)

Michael Zimmerman played in all 91 games with 91 starts over the past three seasons while maintaining a 3.96 GPA.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Deron Cherry II and Michael Zimmerman were named two of the nearly 200 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athletes for the 2008-09 season, announced earlier today in conjunction with the 2009 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship at Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.

For Zimmerman, his second NAIA All-Academic distinction comes on the heels of a senior season in which he led the team in assists, totaling 129 and ranking in the NAIA Top 25 for assists per game at 4.3.

During the season, Zimmerman collected his 300th career assist early in the year before finishing with 352 in a three-year career that saw the Ft. Wright, Ky., native play and start in all 91 games at the point guard position, including a trip to the 2006-07 NAIA National Tournament at Municipal.

Deron Cherry scored 10.4 career points per game and performed in the classroom, as well, with a 3.88 GPA.

He also finished with 271 points in 2008-09, averaging 9.0 per game while pushing his career scoring total to 662, an average of 7.3 over 91 games played.

Zimmerman will graduate in May with a degree in Legal Studies, and during his time at Park, he has carried a 3.96 GPA in five previous semesters.

Cherry also earned the NAIA’s highest academic honor for the second-straight season after playing in all 30 games with 26 starts, averaging 9.7 points per game.

He was one of the team’s top threats from outside the 3-point arc, knocking down 47 triples on the year to finish second on the team in makes from outside the arc, helping his field-goal shooting percentage to .435 on the season.

Cherry scored 446 points in 43 games played over two seasons for Park, averaging 10.4 career points per game.

He also ended his Park career with 75 made 3-point baskets and a career percentage of 38.1-percent from outside the arc on 197 career attempts.

A Business Administration and Management major from Kansas City, Mo., Cherry carries a cumulative grade point average of 3.88.

In all, 198 student-athletes were named to the 2008-09 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athlete list, and both Zimmerman and Cherry were also members of the A.I.I. All-Academic team along with teammates Philip Garnett, Eduardo Quintero, Jeremy Voorhees and Milan Susnjar.

The Pirates ended the 2008-09 season in the A.I.I. semifinals, falling to Crichton, 87-83, in Orangeburg, S.C.