ECU's Jayden Gardner Heads Up AAC All-Freshman Squad

ECU freshman forward Jayden Gardner has been named a unanimous pick for the AAC All-Freshman squad according to a league announcement on Monday.

Gardner is the fifth ECU player to receive the honor and the third to be picked unanimously. The other two were B.J. Tyson and Shawn Williams.

After averaging 16.4 points and 8.5 boards per game, Gardner is the only player in the AAC to rank among the top ten in both scoring and rebounding. He also ranks among the top ten in all of division one in both categories.

Gardner, who was the first in AAC history to score 30 points and pull down 20 rebounds in a game, was in double-figure scoring 25 times this season in addition to ten double-doubles. The Wake Forest native accomplished the task against UCF on Jan. 13.

Gardner’s was American Athletic Conference Freshman-of-the-Week five times which was the second-most all-time in conference history and just one short of former Memphis forward Dedric Lawson’s record of six.

He also garnered USBWA National Freshman-of-the-Week honors on Jan. 15 after his performance at UCF.

Gardner pulled down a total of 256 rebounds this season which is an ECU freshman single-season record and ranked second in the league overall. He had 92 offensive rebounds ranking second.

His 19 free throw attempts and 16 made free throws against Appalachian State on November 30 also set a league record.

AAC ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM

Dexter Dennis, Wichita State

Jayden Gardner, ECU *

Tyler Harris, Memphis

Nate Hinton, Houston *

Alexis Yetna, USF *

*unanimous selections

ECU returns to action this Thursday, March14 when the No. 11 seed in the 2019 Air Force Reserve American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship takes on No. 6 Wichita State at the FedExForum in Memphis. Tip-off is scheduled for approximately 10 p.m. EDT on ESPNU.