University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Holiday, Welsh Earn NABC All-District Accolades
March 13, 2018 | Men's Basketball
UCLA men's basketball players Aaron Holiday and Thomas Welsh have secured NABC Division I All-District honors, as announced Tuesday by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).
Holiday was one of five first-team selections in District 20, along with Arizona's Deandre Ayton, USC's Jordan McLaughlin, Stanford's Reid Travis and Arizona State's Tra Holder.
Welsh was listed as one of five second-team selections in the district, accompanying Allonzo Trier (Arizona), Noah Dickerson (Washington), Chimezie Metu (USC) and Justin Bibbins (Utah).
Holiday and Welsh have been instrumental in leading UCLA to the NCAA Tournament this season. The Bruins have posted a 21-11 overall record and will face St. Bonaventure (24-7) in a "First Four" game of the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday evening in Dayton, Ohio. The Bruins' game will be nationally televised on truTV.
Most recently, Holiday scored a career-high 34 points in back-to-back games – at USC (March 3) in the Bruins' regular-season finale and versus Stanford (March 8) before logging 15 points in a semifinal loss to Arizona (March 9). Holiday will enter Tuesday's game having averaged a Pac-12-best 20.3 points per game. He ranks second in the Pac-12 in assists (5.8 apg) and is sixth in three-point field goal percentage (43.3%).
Welsh, a 7-foot center who secured second-team All-Pac-12 honors last week, currently ranks No. 4 on the Bruins' career rebounding list (1,020 career rebounds). He stands just two rebounds shy of the No. 3 spot (David Greenwood). Welsh has averaged 13.0 points and 10.7 rebounds per game for UCLA, starting all 32 contests.
In addition, Welsh has totaled 343 rebounds this season, which ranks No. 11 on the school's single-season list. He has recorded more rebounds in one season than any UCLA player in the last 10 years – previously, Kevin Love had 415 rebounds as a freshman in 2007-08.
