North Texas Daily

After being redshirted his first year at North Texas due to injury, redshirt freshman guard Umoja Gibson has been named to the 2018-19 Conference USA All-Freshman Team. Gibson is not only the fifth Mean Green player ever to earn an award to the all-freshman team but the third player in the last five years. Gibson was asked about his recognition towards the league’s all-freshman team in a press release on Thursday, Mar. 11.

“After all I went through last season with my injury, it feels really good to know my hard work has been noticed,” Gibson said. “It’s a great honor to be thought of as one of the best young bucks in our conference.”

In concert with Gibson, the other players who were elected to the 2018-19 C-USA All-Freshman Team were: Marshall guard Taevion Kinsey, Rice guard Chris Mullins, Texas-El Paso forward Efe Odigie and Western Kentucky center Charles Bassey.

Gibson signed with North Texas in the 2017-28 season as the No. 27 ranked basketball player in the state of Texas, according to TexasHoops.com. However, Gibson’s first year with the Mean Green was short lived when he suffered a season-ending injury in the second game of the season against Nebraska  on Nov. 13. He scored 19 points, collected six rebounds and made four shots from beyond the arc in his collegiate debut with North Texas.

This season, Gibson ended the 2018-19 campaign averaging 12.5 points per game, 1.8 assists per game, 2.7 assists per game and 2.1 turnovers per game. He had career highs in scoring points (32) and made-threes (7) against Angelo State on Nov. 6, 2018. The following game against Humboldt State, Gibson scored 27 points shooting 6-for-6 from beyond the arc and 10-for-13 from the field. He posted the highest field goal percentage from the field (77 percent) and the three (100 percent) for a single game on the team.

Gibson also led the starters in 3–point percentage (39.6) and was second amongst starters in free throw percentage (79.4). He is also second in steals per game (1.4) behind junior guard Ryan Woolridge’s (2.0) and third among North Texas guards in field goal percentage (40.3).

As the regular season came to its end, Woolridge was hampered with tendinitis in his knee — allowing Gibson to take team leads in points (13.3) and minutes (35.3) heading into the C-USA Tournament. The redshirt freshman guard is going into the first round of the C-USA Tournament having scored 91 3-pointers this season. The 91 made-threes are the fourth most in C-USA but they are the most by a freshman. Gibson will end the regular season with the eighth highest 3-point percentage in C-USA (39.6). 

Featured Image: Mean Green redshirt freshman Umoja Gibson holds off a Marshall defender while driving the lane at the Super Pit on March 3, 2019. Image by: Trevon McWilliams.