Atlanta, Ga.----Former Wingate University All-American Sean Barnette has been selected by the Iowa Energy in the third round of the 2009 NBA Development League Draft on Thursday. The Energy, located in Des Moines, Iowa, is the NBA D-League affiliate for the Chicago and the Phoenix NBA franchises.

Barnette earned the South Atlantic Conference Athlete of the Year Award two years in a row. As a senior, Barnette was a first team Daktronics NCAA Division II All-American in 2008. A third team Daktronics All-American in 2007, Barnette was one of only three student-athletes to repeat from the previous year’s team. Barnette was also a first team NCAA Division II All-American as named by the Basketball Times magazine.

One of 65 student-athletes selected to play in the 2008 Collegiate Basketball Invitational (CBI), Barnette was the East Team MVP in the CBI All-Star game. In addition, he also played in the third annual NABC/NCAA Division II All-Star Game. Barnette and the East team defeated the West squad 103-97.

Barnette was selected the 2008 South Atlantic Region Co-Player of the Year by Daktronics. He shared this honor with Anthony Hilliard from Elizabeth City State University. Barnette is a two-time All-South Atlantic Region pick as named by Daktronics. Also, the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) picked Barnette for their All-South Atlantic Region first team.

The South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year his final two seasons, Barnette concluded his career as the all-time leading scorer in SAC and Wingate history with 2,324 points. He is the only male player in SAC history to score 2,000+ points. Barnette and his teammates compiled a 24-7 overall record in 2007-08, sharing the SAC regular season title with Lenoir-Rhyne.

During his senior campaign, Barnette led the Bulldogs and the SAC with 21.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. On the NCAA charts, he was seventh in points per game and 17th in rebounds per game. Barnette averaged a double-double (21.2 points and 10.5 rebounds per game) in conference games this year. For the second year in a row, Barnette was the winner of the J. Howard Williams Award for Male Athlete of the Year at Wingate University.

Barnette had 35 career double-doubles, including 18 his senior year. The Northwestern High School graduate scored in double figures in 70 consecutive games to finish his career. In 2007, Barnette was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III men’s basketball first team (college division).

The Bulldog men’s basketball team made the best run in SAC men’s basketball history in 2006-07 (Barnette’s junior season). Wingate (25-9 overall in 2006-07) won the Food Lion SAC Tournament for the second consecutive season in 2007. The Bulldogs took the 2007 South Atlantic Regional title on their way to becoming the first SAC men’s basketball team to participate in an NCAA Division II Elite Eight event.

WINGATE UNIVERSITY

Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a private four-year co-educational institution of 2,159 students offering active learning opportunities through personalized instruction, world travel, career discovery and community service.

Wingate offers more than 40 undergraduate majors in arts and sciences, business, communication, education, fine arts, music and sport sciences. It also offers graduate degrees in business, education, physician assistant studies and sport administration. In addition, the school awards the doctor of pharmacy and the doctor of education degrees.

Bulldog student-athletes compete in 17 NCAA Division II sports. Wingate University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past three years.

Wingate University is ranked number three among NCAA Division II Academic All-America® producing schools in the 2000’s with 34 honorees during this millennium. Only Pittsburg State (Kan.) University and Truman State (Mo.) University have produced more Academic All-America® honorees during this time period. Wingate’s 43 Academic All-America® honorees (lifetime) is tops among all SAC schools.

(Special thanks to Tusculum SID Dom Donnelly for his help with this story.)