KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Good news was sundry for the 11^th-ranked UNC Pembroke men's basketball team with the release of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District Teams on Monday morning as senior Spencer Levi picked up all-district accolades, while head coach Drew Richards was crowned as the region's Co-Coach of the Year.
 
Levi joined a select list of former program standouts with his honor, marking just the eighth NABC All-District accolade in the 89-year history of the program in Pembroke. Richards is the first skipper in program history to rake in coach of the year laurels.
 
Levi, who raked in first team all-region honors from the Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association just more than a week ago, converted on 70.8 percent of his field goal attempts this season while averaging 15.6 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 1.9 assists per game. The Conference Carolinas Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honoree also notched 13 double-double outings, and turned in 10 or more points in 28 games, including 25-point outings against both Southern Wesleyan and Mount Olive.
 
The latest addition to the program's 1,000-Point Club, Levi amassed 1,621 points over the course of his collegiate career, including his freshman season at Dallas, and conclude his time in the Black & Gold with 1,126 career points. He played in 98 games (40 starts) for the Braves, and averaged 11.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.3 assists in the Black & Gold.
 
Richards led the Black & Gold to its best record (27-4) in school history, while also skippering the Braves to a school record-breaking 16-game win streak from November 30 to February 5. UNCP paced Conference Carolinas in nine statistical categories, and is tops among more than 300 NCAA Division II squads in both rebounding margin (+12.3) and offensive rebounds per game (15.6). The Braves also won the Conference Carolinas regular season crown on the way to securing the eighth NCAA Tournament berth in program history as well.
 
UNCP's third-year head coach, who took over the reigns of the program after leading Lander to a 23-8 mark in 2019-20, cashed in on his 50th career head coaching victory with a win at Barton on February 23.