Varner Earns All-WAC First Team Honors
Texas Border Business
RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men’s basketball team learned on Tuesday that, for the second year in a row, junior guard Javon Levi is the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Defensive Player of the Year and a member of the All-Defensive Team while adding All-WAC Second Team honors to his resume. Additionally, senior Terry Lesley Varner II is an All-WAC First Team honoree as voted on by the WAC head coaches based on performance during WAC play.
During WAC play, Levi averaged 12.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, 7.9 assists, and 1.9 steals in 15 games. He ranked 14th in the conference in scoring, first in assists and second in steals. He also had a WAC-best 2.7 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Overall, Levi is averaging 8.0 assists per game, which leads the NCAA. Despite missing five games, he ranks 11th in total assists (199), 12th in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.93) and steals per game (2.4), and 33rdin total steals (60), leading the WAC in each category. He is also averaging 11.4 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.
For his career, Levi ranks second in program history with 204 steals, just 27 shy of the record of 231 set by Lalo Rios (1995-99). He also ranks fourth in assists with 524. Next on the list is recently inducted Hall of Famer Paul Friddle (1958-63) with 601.
The only player to start all 16 WAC contests for UTRGV, Varner averaged 17.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.6 steals while shooting 44.3 percent from the field, 44.6 percent from behind the arc and 89.0 percent from the foul line. He ranked third in the WAC in scoring, second in free throw shooting, third in three-point shooting, fourth in steals, fifth in defensive rebounding (4.9), seventh in rebounding, tied for ninth in three-pointers made (25), and 14th in field goal percentage.
Overall, Varner is averaging 15.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.5 steals while shooting 43.5 percent from the field, 40.6 percent from behind the arc and 87.1 percent from the foul line. He ranks 30th in the nation and second in the WAC in free throw shooting.
For his career, Varner has 1,182 points, the 16th-highest total in program history. Next on the list is Ellis Appling (1959-62) with 1,236 points.
Second-seeded UTRGV opens the Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament presented by TicketSmarter on Thursday at 8 p.m. with a quarterfinal matchup against seventh-seeded CSU Bakersfield on ESPN+.
 men’s basketball team learned on Tuesday that, for the second year in a row, junior guard Javon Levi is the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Defensive Player of the Year and a member of the All-Defensive Team while adding All-WAC Second Team honors to his resume.){kind=link}