Berry Berry Good: Small-College Transfer Helps Weber State Survive Lillard's Loss in Big Sky

Weber State, despite losing NBA rookie sensation Damian Lillard, gives every indication of finishing among the top three in the Big Sky Conference standings for the seventh time in as many seasons under coach Randy Rahe. The Wildcats' leader in scoring and assists is swingman Davion Berry, a small-college transfer who averaged 18.3 ppg and 4.1 rpg with Monterey Bay (Calif.) while twice earning All-CCAA honors. He played for the same AAU program as Lillard, the nation's leading scorer in 2011-12.

A striking number of standout major-college players started their careers playing for a four-year small college before transferring. Of course, the most prominent player in this category is all-time great Elgin Baylor. After leaving College of Idaho, Baylor became an NCAA unanimous first-team All-American with Seattle in 1957-58.

More than 30 different players became NCAA Division I conference all-league selections in the 1980s and 1990s after starting their careers with a small four-year college. If Berry earns first-team acclaim in the Big Sky, he will join the following chronological list of first-team all-conference selections since the NCAA playoffs expanded to at least 64 teams in 1985 who started their college careers playing for non-Division I four-year schools:

Season First-Team Selection Pos. Division I School Conference Four-Year Small College
1984-85 Curtis High G Nevada-Reno Big Sky Tennessee-Martin
1984-85 Jim McCaffrey G Holy Cross Metro Atlantic St. Michael's (Vt.)
1984-85 Bob McCann C Morehead State Ohio Valley Upsala (N.J.)
1985-86 Oscar Jones G Delaware East Coast Winston-Salem State (N.C.)
1985-86 Jim McCaffrey G Holy Cross Metro Atlantic St. Michael's (Vt.)
1985-86 Bob McCann C Morehead State Ohio Valley Upsala (N.J.)
1985-86 Jerry Stroman F Utah Western Athletic Benedict (S.C.)
1986-87 Marchell Henry F East Carolina Colonial Athletic St. Andrews (N.C.)
1986-87 Avery Johnson G Southern (La.) SWAC Cameron (Okla.)
1986-87 Bob McCann* C Morehead State Ohio Valley Upsala (N.J.)
1986-87 Ron Simpson F Rider East Coast Adelphi (N.Y.)
1987-88 Avery Johnson* G Southern (La.) SWAC Cameron (Okla.)
1987-88 Larry Jones* F Boston University ECAC North Atlantic C.W. Post (N.Y.)
1988-89 Gerald Glass F Mississippi SEC Delta State (Miss.)
1989-90 Gerald Glass F Mississippi SEC Delta State (Miss.)
1990-91 Marcus Kennedy* F-C Eastern Michigan Mid-American Ferris State (Mich.)
1990-91 Tony Walker F Saint Peter's Metro Atlantic Kean College (N.J.)
1992-93 Leon McGee G Western Michigan Mid-American Michigan Tech
1993-94 Tucker Neale* G Colgate Patriot League Ashland (Ohio)
1994-95 Tucker Neale G Colgate Patriot League Ashland (Ohio)
1995-96 Johnny Taylor F UT-Chattanooga Southern Knoxville (Tenn.)
1996-97 Johnny Taylor* F UT-Chattanooga Southern Knoxville (Tenn.)
1996-97 Raymond Tutt G UC Santa Barbara Big West Azusa Pacific (Calif.)
1997-98 Andrew Betts C Long Beach State Big West C.W. Post (N.Y.)
1997-98 Chad Townsend G Murray State Ohio Valley St. Edward's (Tex.)
1999-00 Matt Gladieux G Coastal Carolina Big South Bellarmine (Ky.)
2000-01 Demond Stewart* G Niagara Metro Atlantic Mercyhurst (Pa.)
2001-02 Justin Rowe C Maine America East Clearwater Christian (Fla.)
2003-04 Miah Davis* G Pacific Big West Cal State Stanislaus
2004-05 Yemi Nicholson* C Denver Sun Belt Fort Lewis (Colo.)

*Nine of these players were named conference MVP.
NOTE: Tennessee-Martin subsequently moved up to the DI level.