A pair of Lone Star Conference men's basketball standouts were honored Wednesday as LSC officials announced the league's Preseason Players of the Year for 2007-08.

      Central Oklahoma senior guard-forward Sam Belt was named the LSC North Division Preseason Player of the Year, while Angelo State senior forward Marcus Hubbard earned LSC South Division Preseason Player of the Year acclaim.

      The league's preseason awards were selected by a vote of LSC head coaches and sports information directors, plus various media representatives from throughout the region.

      Both players were nearly unanimous selections with Belt receiving 18 of the 20 votes in the North, while Hubbard was the choice on 19 of the 20 ballots in the South.

      Belt guided UCO to a 20-8 overall and 9-3 league record last season.  The All-LSC North first team selection, averaged 17.9 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists last year for the Bronchos.

ASU's Marcus Hubbard

      Hubbard averaged 21.7 points per game, 8.9 rebounds per contest, converted 79.1 percent of his free throws and swatted away 30 of the opposition's attempted shots to lead the Rams in those categories.  An All-LSC South first team pick, he finished second in the conference in scoring, fifth in rebounding, tied for fifth in blocked shots and tenth in free-throw percentage last season.

      Both these players will lead their teams on to the playing court in mid-November when the 2007-08 basketball season gets underway.  The LSC has 14 teams - seven each in the North and South Divisions - ready to play this winter, with each team playing a home-and-home divisional schedule plus a single round of crossover games against teams from the opposite division.

      Other LSC players to watch this fall, according to voters, include Texas A&M-Commerce's Kevin Widemond, Northeastern State's Steve Neal and Tarleton State's Dan Eichel.  Each player received one vote in the preseason balloting.