CHICAGO (February 21, 2019) – Clayton Custer (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest/Iowa State), a redshirt senior on the Loyola University Chicago men's basketball team, has been tabbed Google Cloud Academic All-District V it was announced today. This marks the second season that the 6-foot-1 point guard has earned the distinction and he will now appear on the national ballot for Academic All-America honors.
Last season, Custer earned Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, Associated Press Honorable Mention All-America, Lou Henson Mid-Major Player of the Year and National Jesuit Player of the Year recognition after leading the Ramblers to a school-record 32 victories and the program's first trip to the NCAA Final Four since winning the national championship in 1963.
This year, Custer, who is a finalist for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award, is contributing 11.4 points, 1.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game, while shooting 39 percent (53-for-136) from three-point range for a Loyola squad that sits tied for first in the Missouri Valley Conference standings with a 17-11 overall record and a 10-5 league mark.
Earlier this season, Custer netted a career-best 26 points, hitting 6 of 8 shots from three-point range, in an 85-74 victory at Drake (Jan. 5). During his memorable year in 2017-18, Custer put up 13.2 points. 2.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.5 steals per contest, shooting 52.8 percent (160-for-303) from the field and 45.1 percent (60-for-133) from three-point territory.
Off the court, Custer, who last May earned his undergraduate degree in finance and is now working toward his master's in business administration, is a two-time Division I-AAA Scholar-Athlete Team pick and twice has been named MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team. In 2017-18, he was also selected as the recipient of the MVC State Farm Good Neighbor Award and was named Kansas City Sports Commission Co-Sportsmen of the Year.
Loyola is back in action Sunday when it visits Southern Illinois at 3 p.m. in a game that will be televised live on ESPNU.
