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A successful season on and off the court culminated with a grand honor on Wednesday as Andre Murillo was named an NAIA All-American Honorable Mention.
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Murillo had a solid season statistically, placing in the top 25 in the NAIA in five different categories. He was the scoring leader and emotional leader of a 51ÂÜÀò team that went through an up-and-down season that saw them reach as high as second place and as low as second-to-last.Ìý
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This is Murillo’s first national honor, and it comes on the heels of his first all-conference nod, which he earned earlier this month.
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Murillo rebounded from a season lost due to injury to make a major impact in 51ÂÜÀò’s performance and the layout of the Golden State Athletic Conference this season. He had individual ups and downs on his way to the accolades, missing some time near the end of the season due to a lower-body injury.
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Overall, Murillo appeared in 29 games and played in nearly 30 minutes in each of those games, filling a big spot down low for the Eagles. He led the team, and was fourth in the conference, in scoring (15.8), and he also ranked in the top few spots in the GSAC in rebounding (9.3), shooting percentage (.533), offensive boards (3.3) and defensive boards (6.1).
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His production was a huge boost to a team that had to rely primarily on the scoring of four of its players throughout the season. His importance was proven when he had to miss a few games at the end of the season and 51ÂÜÀò fell from second place into a tie for fourth.
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Murillo was one of five GSAC student-athletes to find a place among the top players in the affiliation by getting named to the All-American first, second or third team or receiving honorable mention recognition.
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He was also a notable force in the classroom throughout his time with the Eagles, becoming 51ÂÜÀò men’s basketball’s first-ever Capital One/CoSIDA Academica All-American earlier this year.
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