Westmont junior guard Abram Carrasco was named an NAIA Men’s Basketball First Team All-American and senior forward Justin Bessard earned Honorable Mention honors, the NAIA announced on Thursday.
Carrasco is the fifth Warrior to be selected to the All-American First Team and the first since Preston Branson in 2012-13. The other three players to earn the honor are: Fred DeVaughn (1972-73), Dave Schultz (1983-84) and Brian Gomes (1998-99).
“That is rarified air that he just joined,” Westmont head coach John Moore said. “Those four others were superb players. It’s hard to be an NAIA Division I First Team All-American, but Bram was the best player in our conference and he would’ve been if not the best, one of the best players at the National Tournament.”
Carrasco led the Warriors in both points per game (18.9) and assists per contest (4.8), which ranked 19th and 21st in the NAIA, respectively. His 585 points were the 14th most in the NAIA and rank 11th in a single season in Westmont program history, despite the season being cut short due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Earlier this month, Carrasco became the second Warrior to ever be named GSAC Player of the Year and the first to do so outright.
The junior transfer led the conference with 20.8 points per GSAC game and ranked second with 5.1 assists.
“One of the most difficult things to do is to continue to score at a high level when all eyes are upon you,” Moore said. “Bram’s scoring average went up once conference started and that’s unheard of.”
The two-time GSAC Player of the Week scored 20 or more points in 15 games, including 12 against GSAC opponents. He had a consecutive five-game stretch during conference play with at least 22 points, including a 31-point and 10-assists performance against William Jessup.
“Bram made his teammates better,” Moore said. “He found the right guys at the right time over and over throughout the year. It would have been hard for us to be a team that won 20 games without Abram Carrasco. He’s very special.”
Bessard earned NAIA Honorable Mention All-American honors in his lone season as a Warrior after transferring from Bellevue (Neb.), adding to the All-GSAC selection he received earlier this month.
“He’s a very good passer, but he’s also a guy that can stretch the defense,” Moore said. “He was our primary low-post scorer, but he could also step out and shoot threes. He broke open games and helped us win games.”
Bessard led the Warriors in rebounding, averaging 7.0 boards per game, while he was second on the team with 15.1 points per outing. The senior, who was named GSAC Player of the Week on Feb. 3, also shot 39.5% from 3-point range.
He scored 20 or more points in nine games, including three 27-point outings, his Westmont career high. One of those games came against NCAA Division I opponent UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 2.
“He was good as anyone on the court when we played against UCSB,” Moore said. “He had a very special game out there against a Division I opponent.”