Senior Dane McLoughlin has already made hoops history several times at Case Western Reserve. But now, in the final moments of his collegiate athletic career, he yearns for one last shot: the chance to play in the national Division III All-Star game.
But to capitalize on the opportunity, he needs his entire school community to lend an assist. Specifically, he has to be one of the top two vote-getters in online balloting that ends at noon tomorrow (Wednesday, March 11). You can add to his tally by visiting d3hoops.com/notables/2015/03/nabc-all-star-voting.
The all-star game will be played prior to the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship game on Saturday, March 21, at Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va.
McLaughlin made the list of potential all-star players as the Division III representative from the Great Lakes region, one of eight regions that cover the country. He brings to his candidacy Case Western Reserve’s all-time career record for three-pointers, at 222, as well as membership in the men’s team’s 1,000-point club (he is the 19th player in university history to achieve that milestone). He also co-captained the team in its 2014-2015 season, the first one ever that saw the Spartans achieve a Top 25 national ranking.
McLoughlin, a 6-foot-6-inch forward from Westerville, Ohio, averaged 14.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game this season. Over his four-season, 99-game career, the two-time All-University Athletic Association (UAA) honoree racked up 1,329 points for the Spartans; he entered the 1,000-point club just three games into his senior season.
McLoughlin also excels off the court: The biology major has earned UAA All-Academic Honors three times and boasts the highest cumulative grade point average on the team (3.77). He conducts research on campus in assistant professor of biology Jessica Fox’s lab, where he uses high-speed video cameras to observe the movement of sensory organs on flies during their flight, hoping to better understand how sensory systems collect, process and transmit information. Last month, he was named to the 2015 Capital One Academic All-District VII Men’s Basketball First Team.
After graduation this spring, McLoughlin plans to attend medical school.
But first, he’d like to play one last game.
Vote now at D3hoops.com, and spread the word on Twitter with the hashtag #VoteGreatDane.