KANSAS CITY – UIC guard
Tarkus Ferguson has been named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District Team. He is the first player to earn the recognition in four seasons under current Flames head coach
Steve McClain, and the first from the program in 10 years.
The teams are selected and voted on by NABC member coaches in NCAA Division I. UIC is is in District 12, which encompasses members of the Horizon League and the Summit League. The last member of the Flames to represent the program on an NABC All-District Team was
Josh Mayo in 2008-09.
Ferguson did just about everything for the Flames during his recently completed junior season. He led the squad in points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and minutes. It is believed that only one other player in Division I accomplished that during the past season, fellow Second Team member
Sandy Cohen III of Green Bay.
The guard averaged 15.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.2 assists on the season, ranking in the Horizon League's top 10 in each category. He also averaged 1.5 steals overall and 1.8 steals per game in conference play, which led all players in the conference. Listed as a 6'4" guard, Ferguson led the team with 26 blocks on the season, as well. He was an integral part of a defensive effort that saw the Flames lead the Horizon League in defensive field goal percentage in all games (.417) and conference games (.398).
Ferguson made 100 3-pointers on the season, breaking the previous high mark at UIC set by
Mayo
in 2007-08. He set the program record with 272 attempts from beyond the arc and he became only the fourth seventh player in program history to make at least seven triples in one game when he made that many against Youngstown State on Jan. 10. All seven came in the first half of that game. His 166 assists in 2018-19 were tied for the seventh most in a single season by any Flame.
The third-year player also finds his name dotted among the program's career leaders. He became the 25
th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 points on Jan. 19 at Green Bay and he finished the year ranked 17
th on the all-time list with 1,182 points. He is fourth all-time with 479 assists and has a realistic chance to get as high as second place with 177 in his senior season. Ferguson ranks sixth with 536 3-point field goal attempts and seventh with 189 3-pointers made. He grabbed his 500
th rebound during the season and has 555 to date, most on the active roster at season's end.
Ferguson became the second player in program history to record a triple-double when he had 14 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in a 19-point win against Illinois State on Dec. 5. He also earned Horizon League Player of the Week honors on Feb. 4 after averaging 18.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists to help UIC take down co-conference champions Wright State and Northern Kentucky. The Flames were the only team to defeat both teams on the same weekend this season.
Ferguson is one of six Horizon League players to earn NABC All-District honors, and one of four on the Second Team. Horizon League Player of the Year
Drew McDonald (Northern Kentucky) and
Loudon Love (Wright State) were First Team selections, while
Antoine Davis (Detroit Mercy),
Xavier Hill-Mais (Oakland) and Cohen join Ferguson.
Other All-District players from District 12 include
Mike Daum (South Dakota State) and
John Konchar (Fort Wayne) and
Zach Jackson (Omaha) on the First Team, and
David Jenkins, Jr. (South Dakota State) on the Second Team.
