The Spokane County Board of Commissioners recognized the Eastern Washington University championship men's basketball team in a proclamation made during its remotely-held meeting on Tuesday (May 26).
 
The proclamation recognized EWU for winning the Big Sky Conference outright championship with a 78-69 win over Weber State on March 7, 2020. It was the fourth Big Sky title in school history, but the COVID-19 pandemic shortened the season and ended the team's hopes of winning the Big Sky Tournament title in Boise, Idaho, and advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the third time.
 
"I'm just so grateful to the commissioners for recognizing this great team," said EWU President Dr. Mary Cullinan. "It was heartbreaking to come home early from Boise. To have this recognition is really wonderful. It was an incredible team and an incredible run."
 
"We handled business and put ourselves in a position to play in the NCAA Tournament," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans, whose team finished 23-8 overall and 16-4 in the league. "We felt good every time we stepped on the court, and they worked hard to get there."
 
The proclamation also recognized senior Mason Peatling as the MVP of the Big Sky Conference, and mentioned him, Jacob Davison and Kim Aiken Jr. as All-Big Sky selections. Peatling also earned prestigious Academic All-America honors and was a four-time member of the Big Sky All-Academic team. A total of eight Eagles were honored on the All-Academic squad.
 
"They had a tremendous season, and I called them the heart attack kids for how many times they were behind in the last 30 seconds but would pull out a win," said EWU Director of Athletics Lynn Hickey. "What they did as a team was outstanding, but they also had a 3.6 team grade point average."
 
Legans himself was recognized in the proclamation for concluding his third season as EWU's head coach as the Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year.
 
"As a former basketball coach, I loved to give Shantay instructions from the stands," kidded Hickey. "We are very, very proud of him – Shantay certainly deserved to be Coach of the Year."
 
Legans is now 59-41 in 100 games as head coach heading into the 2020-21 season, but he prefers to heap the praise on his own team, coaching staff and Eagle Nation.
 
"It took everybody involved and the support we received," Legans told the commissioners. "Mary was at every game, and she emailed after every game – even losses – and I thank her for that. It was awesome and made me feel good."
 
"Our team worked extremely hard, and got themselves to a point where they were basically coaching themselves," he continued. "I shouldn't say that in front of my bosses, but I was proud of our players and our coaching staff and how hard they work. There are a lot of tireless hours, so I just want to say thank you on behalf of our team and program. We couldn't have done it without everybody's support."
 
"They've put our program in a position to win the outright championship for only the second time in Eastern history, and to get to the NCAA Tournament," Legans added of his team. "We'll hold our hat on that and strive to be ready for next year and the future."

 

Complete Text of the Spokane County Commissioners Proclamation . . .

IN THE MATTER OF RECOGNIZING EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY'S MEN'S BASKETBALL FOR THEIR 2019-20 SEASON
 
WHEREAS, Eastern Washington University is our regional, public four-year baccalaureate university that defeated Weber State 78-69 on March 7, 2020 to wrap-up the outright Big Sky Conference men's basketball title—its fourth Big Sky regular season title in school history and second outright title, and capping off the Eagles' second highest win total in 37 years as a NCAA Division I member with 23 victories; and
 
WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in cancellation of the Big Sky and NCAA tournaments, preventing EWU from being the Big Sky's representative in the NCAA "March Madness" tournament, and ended a historic run by EWU and senior Mason Peatling, who won the league's MVP award after averaging a double-double in 20 league outing, and Peatling was a first team All-Big Sky selection, while junior Jacob Davison was picked for the second team and sophomore Kim Aiken Jr. was on the third squad; and
 
WHEREAS, Head Coach Shantay Legans was the Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year after leading EWU to a final record of 23-8 overall and 16-4 in the league, and is now 59-41 in his three years as head coach for a .590 winning percentage; and
 
WHEREAS, the Eastern Eagles placed a Big Sky Conference-best eight players to the league's All-Academic squad, including four-time recipient Mason Peatling, Kim Aiken Jr., Jacob Groves, Tanner Groves, Ellis Magnuson, Michael Meadows, Jack Perry and Tyler Robertson.
 
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, we, the Board of Commissioners for Spokane County, Washington do hereby recognize the extraordinary commitment and talent showcased by the young men on this accomplished team. All EWU Students, Teachers, Parents, Alumni, and residents of the greater Spokane County region should be inspired by their accomplishments and we encourage all citizens to proudly wear their EWU colors and celebrate the success of the EWU men's basketball team.
 
Dated this 26^th day of May, 2020.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERSOF SPOKANE COUNTY, WASHINGTON
AL FRENCH, CHAIR
JOSH KERNS, VICE CHAIR
MARY L. KUNEY, COMMISSIONER
Ginna Vasquez, Clerk of the Board

 
 

2019-20 Men's Basketball Highlights . . .

• The Eagles had their-second highest win total in 37 years as a NCAA Division I member with 23 victories.
• Their 16 league triumphs were the most in their 33 years as a member of the Big Sky Conference.
• The Eagles finished sixth in the nation in scoring offense (80.9 per game) and were fourth in assists (17.5).
• Eastern was able to celebrate heartily on March 7, 2020, after the Eagles beat Weber State 78-69 to wrap-up the outright Big Sky Conference title.
• The Coronavirus pandemic resulted in cancellation of the Big Sky and NCAA Tournaments, and ended a historic run by EWU and senior Mason Peatling, who won the league's MVP award after averaging a double-double in 20 league outings.
• Mason Peatling also was a first team Academic All-America selection, and finished his career with 118 games played, 1,250 points, 725 rebounds, 112 blocked shots and a .555 field goal shooting percentage – all marks which rank in the top 12 in EWU history.
• Mason Peatling and Jacob Davison were rewarded for the historic season by receiving All-District 6 honors by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).
• Peatling was a first team All-Big Sky selection, while junior Jacob Davison was picked for the second team and sophomore Kim Aiken Jr. was on the third squad.
• Head Coach Shantay Legans himself was the Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year after leading EWU to a final record of 23-8 overall and 16-4 in the league.
• Legans is now 59-41 in his three years as head coach for a .590 winning percentage. In league games, he has directed EWU to 13, 12 and now 16 victories, winning 71 percent for a record of 41-17. Both percentages are currently the best among the eight men who have been head coaches in EWU's tenure in the league, and his 41 league wins is the best three-year stretch in school history.
• Mason Peatling was on fire during the league season, closing with averages of 18.5 points on 56 percent shooting from the field, 10.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.7 blocked shots and 0.8 steals. He had 11 double-doubles in his last 15 games.
• Mason Peatling was honored three times during the year as Big Sky Conference Player of the Week, and Jacob Davison earned the honor twice.
• Eastern's school-record 16 Big Sky wins included sweeps over seven of the league's 10 other teams, and a split versus Idaho State and Idaho. Eastern was swept by Montana, which had won the two previous regular season and tournament titles.
• The Eagles had just two seniors – Mason Peatling and Tyler Kidd – so EWU has high aspirations for 2020 and beyond.
• Eastern won its fourth Big Sky regular season title in school history (2000, 2004, 2015, 2020), but now joins the 2004 team with the only outright titles. Eastern has gone on to win two Big Sky Tournament titles (2004 and 2015) to advance to the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles also have national postseason appearances in the NIT (2003) and the College Basketball Invitational (2016, 2017, 2018).
• A Big Sky Conference-best eight players were named to the league's All-Academic squad, including four-time recipient Mason Peatling. The others were Kim Aiken Jr., Jacob Groves, Tanner Groves, Ellis Magnuson, Michael Meadows, Jack Perry and Tyler Robertson.
• A trio of Eagles – Kim Aiken Jr., Jacob Davison and Mason Peatling – were honored during the year as the EWU Scholar-Athletes of the Month.
• Six different players earned team awards at the conclusion of the season. Mason Peatling was chosen as the MVP after earning the same honor from the league. Sophomore Kim Aiken Jr., received the team's Best Defender award, and Peatling, Aiken and junior Jacob Davison were recognized as EWU's co-captains for the 2019-20 season. In addition, junior Jack Perry received the team's Most Improved award, true freshman Ellis Magnuson was the Top Newcomer and sophomore Tanner Groves out of Spokane's Shadle Park High School was Most Inspirational.