Moon Township, Pa. – Senior forward
Kahliel Spear of the RMU men's basketball team earned his second academic accolade in a week Thursday, as he was named to the 2021-22 Horizon League All-Academic Team.
To earn #HLMBB All-Academic Team distinction, a student-athlete must own a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.20 on a 4.00 scale, participate in 50 percent of a program's competitions and have spent at least one academic year at their respective institution.
Faculty athletic representatives of the Horizon League vote on the five-man team. Ties are not broken, and student-athletes that earn at least 25 percent of the votes but are not part of the #HLMBB All-Academic Team earn honorable mention status.
Spear, a native of The Colony, Texas, and an economics major, has maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.92. The honor from the Horizon League comes a week after he was
named to the 2021-22 Academic All-District® Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
One of two Colonials to start each of RMU's 28 games this season, Spear enters the final weekend of the regular season leading the Colonials in scoring (14.6 ppg), rebounding (7.8 rpg) and blocks (31). He has converted 54.8 percent (165-for-301) of his shots from the floor, which leads the Horizon League.
Spear enters tonight's game at Northern Kentucky having scored in double figures in each of RMU's seven games during the month of February, producing averages of 18.7 points and 9.1 rebounds while converting an even 60 percent (51-for-85) of his shots from the field. Three times during that stretch Spear has eclipsed the 20-point plateau, including a career-high 27 points in a 73-68 win @ Youngstown State (2/13/22).
Overall during the 2021-22 season, Spear leads RMU in double-figure scoring contests (23), 20-point scoring games (8) and double-doubles (7). In addition to leading the Horizon League in field goal percentage, Spear sits fourth in the circuit in blocks (1.11 per game) and rebounding, 10th in scoring and 13th in free-throw percentage (.745).
Led by 12th-year RMU Pat Gallagher Head Coach
Andrew Toole, the Colonials conclude their 2021-22 regular season with a pair of road games. RMU travels to Highland Heights, Ky., for a 7:00 p.m. tip against Northern Kentucky tonight in its first game at BB&T Arena before concluding the regular season Saturday, Feb. 26, at Wright State.
2021-22 #HLMBB All-Academic Team (ties are not broken)
| Name |
Team |
| Antoine Davis |
Detroit Mercy |
| Mike DePersia |
IUPUI |
| Blake Lampman |
Oakland |
| Kahliel Spear |
RMU |
| Grant Basile |
Wright State |
| Michael Akuchie |
Youngstown State |
| Shemar Rathan-Mayers |
Youngstown State |
2021-22 #HLMBB All-Academic Honorable Mention Team
| Name |
Team |
| Nathan McClure |
IUPUI |
| Adrian Nelson |
Northern Kentucky |
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