Devron Bostick Named Preseason All-American

Devron Bostick, a 6-foot-5, 210-pound sophomore guard/forward from Southwestern Illinois (IL) CC who committed to Minnesota October 7th, has been named first-team preseason NJCAA All-American, according to sources close to the program. Bostick was the third player to commit to Minnesota, joining juco forward Paul Carter and Yankton, S.D., big man Colton Iverson.

Devron Bostick caught the attention of the Minnesota coaching staff after a strong performance in the Jerry Mullen camp in Tulsa. Bostick was named second-team NJCAA All-American as a freshman and was named the Great Rivers Athletic Conference men’s Freshman of the Year and Region 24 Player of the Year after averaging a team-best 19.1 points per game. He led the team to a 23-8 mark and a third seed in the region 24 playoffs. The Blue Storm defeated Rend Lake College 100-84 in the first round before losing to Southeastern Illinois 92-78.

Minnesota assistant coach Vince Taylor, who saw Bostick in Tulsa, visited Bostick in late June, as did head coach Tubby Smith. The Gophers are looking for JC scoring help as they will lose their top three scorers, Lawrence McKenzie, Spencer Tollackson and Dan Coleman to graduation. Bostick is considered an excellent shooter.

Southwestern Illinois head coach Jay Harrington told GoldenSports.Net that Minnesota landed a talented player.

"Minnesota has put in a lot of time in on him. He is a pretty good player," Harrington said. "He is very deceptive and long. He is a better ballhandler than expected. He is a scorer. He averaged 19 points per game and was Player of the Year in the conference. He could have averaged 30 points per game as easily as 19. He gets to the basket. He is good in an up-tempo setting. We press a lot and because he is long, he gets steals and he can really run."

Harrington has high expectations for his team this year, which returns Bostick and adds several talented newcomer.

"We ought to be very, very good," Harrington said.

Harrington has coached some talented players at Southwestern Illinois. He coached Marcellus Sommerville, who started his career at Iowa and wound up at Bradley. Sommerville is among the 16 players hoping to make the Dallas Mavericks' roster. He coached current seniors Lance Stemler (Indiana) and Lawrence Blackledge (Marquette) and ex-Purdue guard Bryant Dillion.

"He is better than Dillion and compares favorably to Sommerville," Harrington said of Bostick. "He has a chance to be one of better players, if not the best, that we have ever had."

Bostick helped lead Racine St. Catherine's to a second straight state title in 2006. He signed with Youngstown State, but failed to qualify and was forced to go the juco route. He decided to play for Southwestern Illinois and play with former St. Catherine teammate Reggie Bunch.

Bostick led St. Catherine’s to the Wisconsin state championships at two different divisions during his career as they won their final 44 games. The team was 52-1 his final two seasons with the lone defeat coming by one point to Whitefish Bay Dominican 54-53.

St. Catherine’s went 27-0 in his senior season as the Angels won the title game with a 68-29 victory over Westby. The 39-point margin of victory was most ever for a WIAA Division 3 State Championship and tournament game. Bostick had 18 points, nine rebounds, five steals and four blocked shots in the title game and he was 9 of 15 from the field. He averaged 17.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.4 assists per game as a senior and he shot 59.3 percent from the field. Bostick was named first-team Milwaukee Journal all-area.

St. Catherine’s went 25-1 in his junior season, winning the Division II State Championship Game 52-50 over Seymour as he hit two free throws with 11.1 seconds left to break a 50-50 tie. He finished with 11 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots in 32 minutes during the title game and had 20 points on 9 of 12 shooting in semifinal win over Monroe. He averaged 13.7 per game as a junior.

Bostick signed with Youngstown State in April of 2006, picking the Penguins over UW-Green Bay, Wichita State and UW-Milwaukee.