(Gilbert, AZ) The Park University Gilbert Women’s and Men’s Basketball teams were honored at the California Pacific Conference Awards Ceremonies held Friday and Saturday nights March 1 and 2 at UC Merced in Merced, Calif.
The top honoree was Buccaneer women’s player Kayla Schroeder who was named the 2023-24 Cal Pac Player of the Year. She was also tabbed Cal Pac All-Conference First Team and was named to the conference All-Academic team. Fellow women’s player Jayla Reliford was named to the Cal Pac All-Conference Second Team as well as the conference all-defensive team.
On the men’s side, LC Ballard was named to the Cal Pac All-Conference second team and fellow backcourt mate Caleb Ivy was named honorable mention all-conference.
Freshman Kiley Bush and junior forward Aidan Moreno each earned the Champion of Character award.
Schroeder was consistently the best player in the conference this season, averaging almost 20 points per game and leading the league in three-point shots made and percentage. She was also second in the conference in field goal percentage with all of the other players in the top-five being post players. Schroder made more than double the three-point shots than the other four had even attempted.
Schroeder adds this Cal Pac Player of the Year award to her Cal Pac Freshman of the Year trophy she earned two years ago. She averaged 12 points a game as a freshman and 15 points per as a sophomore. Schroeder also earned her second first team all-conference nod adding to the one earned her freshman year. Last year she made the conference second team.
Schroeder is the third Buccaneer to earn Cal Pac Conference Player of the Year honors as volleyball players Miranda Bacon (2020) and Amanda Jonovich (2022) also earned the top honor.
Schroeder set numerous record this season including becoming the Bucs all-time leading scorer and the first player man or women to eclipse 1000 points in a Bucs uniform. She currently sits at 1,220 points for her career.
In addition to the work she put in on the court, Schroeder also got it done in the classroom where she earned her second Cal Pac All-Academic award with a 3.86 GPA in Business Administration.
Reliford showed she could get things done on both ends of the floor in 2023-24. She was third in the conference in steals and averaged almost 10 points per game. She started the year with a triple-double against SAGU-AIC and has put up two more double-doubles this season.
Ballard is the all-time leading scorer in Park Gilbert men’s basketball history and Ballard made his mark in helping to put the men’s program on an upward path as he leaves the program. Ballard finishes his career with 719 points.
Ballard was named honorable mention all-conference last season.
Ballard also finishes atop the Buccaneer record book as the all -time leader in field goals, 3pt-field goals and free throws made. Ballard averaged 13.2 points per game in his final campaign and pulled down 4.1 boards.
Ivy proved that the program is in good hands with the departure of Ballard. Ivy averaged 12.9 points per game and should challenge Ballard for the all-time scoring title next season. Ivy had three 20+ scoring games this season and used his 6-5 frame to average 6.3 rebounds per game as a guard.
The California Pacific Conference is a perennial NAIA Conference of Character, a distinction made possible by the member institutions’ commitment to the Association’s five core values of a Champion of Character: Respect, Responsibility, Integrity, Sportsmanship, and Servant-Leadership.
At the conclusion of each sport season, the Cal Pac recognizes an individual from each institution who best represents those core values. The men’s and women’s basketball coaches select and honor their players.
This year women’s coach Ben York selected Bush, while men’s coach Gordon Stubblefield selected Moreno.
“This is a big honor, chosen by the head coaches,” said conference commissioner Dr. Don Ott. “These student-athletes stood out among their teammates for living out the values of the NAIA and the Cal Pac. We congratulate each one.”
Press Release courtesy of Park University Athletics – Preston English
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