March 1, 2006

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - Navy starting guard Kaleo Kina (El Mirage, Ariz.) has been named to the 2006 Patriot League Men's Basketball All-Rookie Team announced by the league office Wednesday morning in a conference-wide media call. Along with Kina, Andrew Brown (Lafayette), Jason Vegotsky (Bucknell), Alex Vander Baan (Holy Cross) and rookie of the year Derrick Mercer (American) were named to the 2006 edition of the league's all-rookie team.

"It's a great honor for Kaleo to be named to the Patriot League All-Rookie Team in a year in which the league had a very strong cast of young basketball players," said second-year Navy head coach Billy Lange. "It's a testament to Kaleo's commitment to become a better basketball player and to our coaching staff to continue to develop our players. Any time you receive postseason recognition it shows the development of your program and this a great honor for the Navy basketball family."

Kina is the 14th player in Navy's 15-year Patriot League affiliation to be named to the league's all-rookie team. Kina is one of four current members of the Navy basketball squad to earn all-rookie team kudos - David Hooper (Dale City, Va.) in 2002-03 and Corey Johnson (Anderson, Ind.) and Greg Sprink (Cardiff, Calif.) in 2004-05.

Kina, who is the only player on the Navy roster to score in all 27 games this season, is pacing the Mids in assists (3.3 apg) and is the team's second-leading scorer (10.3 ppg). He is the only freshman in the league to average double figures in the scoring column and is one-of-three rookies to lead his team in assists. His scoring average is the second best amongst Navy's list of All-Patriot League Rookie Team selections (Mike Heary, 13.6 ppg) and his assists per game is also the second best among Navy's honorees (Brian Walker, 3.5 apg).

On Feb. 1, Kina became just the 16th freshman in program history to reach the 200-point milestone when he scored 19 against Holy Cross. He broke into the Mids' all-time top-10 freshman scoring list with a 12-point effort at Holy Cross on Feb. 15 and currently stands sixth with 277 points. Kina is four points away from joining the top five which includes 1,000-point scorers Cliff Rees (1984-85, 281 pts), Dave Brooks (1979-80, 325 pts), Vernon Butler (1982-83, 336 pts), Kevin Sinnett (1975-76, 366 pts) and top rookie scorer Mike Heary (1994-95, 382 pts).

Kina had perhaps his best offensive game of the season on Jan. 3 against UMBC where he scored 24 points. It was the best scoring output by a Navy freshman since Carlton Baldwin (Lusby, Md.) poured in 28 points against Colgate on Feb. 20, 2004. Nestled in amongst his 24 points was a career-high six three-pointers.

Kina was one of three Navy players to earn Patriot League Rookie-of-the-Week recognition during the year. He was tabbed with the honor on Jan. 23 after averaging 12.0 points and 2.5 assists in games against Lafayette and Longwood.

Navy opens Patriot League Tournament play Friday at the Hart Center where it faces second-seeded Holy Cross. Game time is set for 8:00 p.m. and will be carried live on 1430 WNAV.

2005-06 Patriot League All-Rookie Team
Derrick Mercer, American (Rookie of the Year)
Kaleo Kina, Navy
Andrew Brown, Lafayette
Alex Vander Baan, Holy Cross
Jason Vegotsky, Bucknell
Patriot League All-Rookie Team
                   Year       PPG   RPG   APG
Mark Majick        1991-92    9.2   2.4   2.2
Derrick Wall       1991-92    9.9   5.9   0.7
James Norris       1992-93    6.7   4.3   0.6
Randy Torgrimson   1993-94    6.2   1.8   1.9
Brian Walker       1993-94    5.9   2.8   3.5
Michael Heary      1994-95   13.6   2.6   1.8
Seth Schuknecht    1995-96    7.6   3.3   0.7
Sitapha Savane     1997-98    5.4   4.4   0.6
Jason Jeanpierre   1999-00    5.7   1.2   1.7
Scott Long         1999-00    5.4   2.9   0.6
David Hooper       2002-03    5.6   2.1   0.9
Corey Johnson      2004-05    9.6   3.9   3.1
Greg Sprink        2004-05    8.7   5.1   1.6
Kaleo Kina         2005-06   10.3   2.9   3.3

G-o N-a-v-y