Bobcat golf junior Emily Whipple (Lincoln) and Bobcat men’s basketball senior LJ Westbrook (Salem, Ore.) were recently named by Peru State interim athletic director Steve Schneider as the January Bobcat Athletes of the Month. Whipple and Westbrook were identified by Schneider for the honor based on their recent academic and athletic honors respectively.
Westbrook has had an impressive showing throughout the Bobcat men’s basketball season. So far, some of his highlights include being named the NAIA Player of the Week (1/22), the Heart of America Athletic Conference (Heart) Player of the Week (1/22), and achieving a triple-double during the contest against Avila on January 31.
In addition, to these accomplishments, Westbrook has come close several other times to attaining a triple-double. During the matchup against Culver-Stockton earlier this month Westbrook scored 27 points on 6 of 14 shooting (42.9%) and added ten rebounds, eight assists, and one steal.
On January 20, the Bobcats matched up with another Heart opponent, the Evangel Crusaders where Westbrook scored 15 points making 3 of 9 (33.3%). In addition, he grabbed ten rebounds, had one steal, and seven assists.
Westbrook is listed in the following NAIA individual categories: fifth for free throw percentage (0.896), tenth in assists per game (4.800), thirteenth in total assists (96), seventeenth in total steals (40), nineteenth in steals per game (2.000), and thirty-eighth in defensive rebounds per game (5.550).
In announcing his January selections, Schneider noted “Both Emily and LJ are truly deserving of the monthly recognition for what they have contributed to both of their respective programs over their years in Bobcat uniforms.”
