EMCC’s Blake Butler repeats as NJCAA All-Region 23 basketball selection

SCOOBA – East Mississippi Community College men's basketball standout Blake Butler has earned repeat NJCAA All-Region 23 honors for his 2022-23 season accomplishments. This year's NJCAA All-Region 23 Men's Basketball Team was announced Thursday as voted on by the head men's basketball coaches from the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference (MACCC) and the Louisiana Community Colleges Athletic Conference (LCCAC).

In addition to having been chosen All-Region 23 for the second straight season, Butler also previously earned repeat honors on the All-MACCC First Team. 

Having taken advantage of the NJCAA's previous COVID-19 ruling that granted student-athletes an extra year collegiate eligibility due to the coronavirus pandemic, Butler opted to return to East Mississippi for his third season. The 6-foot-5, 215-pound guard made the most of his opportunity by posting career-high scoring (20.3 ppg) and rebounding (6.2 rpg) averages this past year for head coach Billy Begley's 20-6 EMCC Lions team. Along with ranking 22^nd nationally among NJCAA Division I scoring leaders and third in the MACCC, Butler was EMCC's No. 2 rebounder and third-leading playmaker on the year with an average of 2.2 assists per game. He also shot a career-best 45 percent overall from the field in 2022-23 as well as connecting on 33 percent from three-point range and 74 percent from the charity stripe.

With four 30-point performances this past season, including a career-high, 45-point effort at Northwest Mississippi in November that earned him NJCAA Division I Player of the Week honors, Butler also garnered MACCC Player of the Week recognition twice this season. In addition, the Louisville, Ky., native collected a spot on the 2023 NJCAA Region 23 All-Tournament Team for helping lead the Lions to their first semifinal-round regional tournament appearance since 2016.

While having totaled 1,117 points (16.0 ppg), 367 rebounds (5.2 rpg), 174 assists (2.5 apg), 65 steals and 53 blocked shots during his 70 career EMCC games (64 starts) over the past three seasons, Butler also posted career shooting percentage of 44 percent from the field overall, 34 percent from beyond the three-point arc, and 74 percent from the free throw line. As a three-year starter for East Mississippi, he helped lead the Lions to a 52-19 (.732) composite record, including 20-win seasons each of the past two years that saw EMCC claim the 2022 MACCC Tournament championship followed by this year's third-place MACCC finish in the regular-season conference standings.

A three-time, all-conference performer for EMCC, Butler was previously selected All-MACCC First Team and NJCAA All-Region 23 a season ago after averaging 14.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists per contest for the 21-7 Lions. He also shot 43 percent overall from the field, including 37 percent from three-point range, and 77 percent from the charity stripe in 2021-22. Butler earned his first of three career MACCC Player of the Week awards last year after averaging a team-leading 17.7 points as well as 8.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists during the Lions' successful three-day run through the 2022 MACCC Tournament. He also connected on 56 percent (19-34 FGs) of his field goal attempts for the week, including 10-of-18 (56%) accuracy from beyond the three-point arc.

As a 14-game starter during his freshman season for the EMCC Lions, Butler collected second-team honors on the 2020-21 All-MACCC/North Division squad after averaging 12.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per outing. 

Prior to his three-year collegiate career on the Scooba campus, Butler was named the 2018-19 Sixth Region Player of the Year by Louisville's Courier Journal newspaper after averaging 16.5 points and 9.3 rebounds per game as a senior at Jeffersontown High School. He capped his prep career by participating in the Kentucky/Indiana All-Star Game.  

The rest of the 11-member 2022-23 NJCAA All-Region 23 Men's Basketball Team includes: Dylan Canoville (Copiah-Lincoln); Tai'Reon Joseph (East Central); Christian Terrell (Meridian); George Marshall (Itawamba); Carlous Williams (Pearl River); O'zhell Jackson (Coahoma); AJ Warnsley (Copiah-Lincoln); Josh Lee (Itawamba); Bryce Roberts (LSU Eunice); and Corey Stephenson (Northeast Mississippi). For their all-region recognition, all 11 players now qualify for 2022-23 NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball All-America consideration.